


You're gorgeous under the rain

by LullabyOfHell



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Internalized Homophobia, Margaery and Sansa were friends since they were kids, TONS OF INTERNALIZED HOMOPHOBIA, This fic is officially Joffrey-free, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-25
Updated: 2015-03-02
Packaged: 2018-02-06 03:11:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1842154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LullabyOfHell/pseuds/LullabyOfHell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Eddard Stark's death, Sansa and the Starks return to Winterfell, leaving Highgarden and Margaery behind. Years later, at summer, they move to Highgarden again, and Margaery hopes to continue being friends with Sansa, just as they were before she went away. But some things changed over the years, things that may affect how they feel towards each other - and maybe not in a good way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Summer break

**Author's Note:**

> Holidays are perfect for writing femslash, and I wanted to write some Sansaery for a while, so here is my attempt at it. The story is a Modern AU, and I changed some things from the canon - Sansa and her family lived in Highgarden before Ned's death, she knew Margaery since they were kids, they are only one year apart, there's no dramatic betrothal to Joffrey and yadda yadda.

Margaery remembers well when Sansa stopped believing in every dream she had. It was a rainy day, she was eleven and Sansa ten, and the latter was under the gray sky, catching drops of water with her tongue while Margaery watched her from the old porch of her house, smiling with tenderness and disbelief.

"I'm telling you, Sans, it tastes like pollution" She teased, playing with her green shoelaces. She had gym just before leaving school and wanted to change her clothes as soon as they arrived to her house, but no, it had to start raining and Sansa had wanted to test If it was true that clouds were made of cotton candy. _If they are, rain will taste sweet_ , that was her logic.

"Don't be like that!" The Stark girl answered, still trying to drink the rain. But even as she said that, she looked slightly disappointed with her experiment, her brow frowning further with every drop she tasted. Even then, she didn't give up. "If they're not of cotton candy, they have to be of cotton at least, look at them." She pointed at the gray clouds that looked so soft and fluffy. Margaery bit her lip. She didn't want to tell Sansa that she already knew how clouds were made and of what, that she already had passed that subject in class and that it was definitely boring and not magic at all.

"They're gray. If it was cotton, it would be white. Unless it's dirty cotton." Margaery replied, pulling a face of disgust at the idea. When she saw that her friend remained under the rain she pulled herself up, trying to smooth her frizzy ponytail, and went towards her.

"Come on, Sans, let's get inside. Mom has bought some cookies and I'm hungry." She said, grabbing Sansa's arm, and smiled "and there's lemoncakes too."

That's all it took for Sansa's expression to light up completely.

"Lemoncakes?" She repeated, her childish smile reaching her blue eyes. "Are they from Roseroad's?"

"Yes, your favorites." replied Margaery, pleased to see that her little trick worked, as usual.

As they both went inside to have their snacks, Sansa admitted that maybe clouds were not made of cotton candy after all. Margs smiled.

"That was obvious" she simply said. She still didn't tell her the truth, although she ached to do so, but she didn't feel herself able to break even the stupidest of Sansa's little fantasies.

***

Four years had happened since Eddard Stark's mysterious car accident, and the Starks had decided to return to Highgarden that summer.

Margaery expected to find a teenager version of Sansa Stark - the sweet, slightly spoiled girl she had known. The girl that would never grow out of the idea of all people being good and all endings being happy. Surely she would have moved on from her father's death after four years and returned to her old, cheerful self.

It turns out it wasn't the case. Not at all.

The Sansa that sat in that moment at her kitchen was shy and aloof, and she didn't seem to be very happy with anyone or anything. Their reunion was similar to that one evening when Sansa tried to drink the rain: snacks, Margaery's house and a gray sky that looked like it was going to pour rain furiously at any moment. Margaery hated those days. She preferred the sun, but every day was a good day at Sansa's side. _It's wonderful to have best friends_ , she thought, relishing in the fact that with the Stark girl she could be free, ignorant as she was from many of the things around her. All the family talk about business that was plaguing her home lately dissolved when Sansa came over, even If she was involved for being a Stark. It wasn't like Margaery hated talking about politics, she loved them, but sometimes she wanted to relax, too. After all, sixteen was barely an age to be worrying herself over who would run for Prime minister.

"How were these years, Sansa? I've missed you so much!" Margaery smiled, and the auburn-haired girl smiled back before grabbing another cracker.

"I've missed you too, Margs. These years have been fantastic, Winterfell is great." She answered. It sounded like something she had said thousands of times, and it struck Margaery as a lie.

"Are you sure, Sans?" Said the brunette, her hand resting on Sansa's as to reassure her. "It must be horrible to lose a parent like that." she offered, concern showing in her face. Sansa looked at her, the smile fading from her lips.

"Well, I..." she muttered, unsure of what to say. A moment passed, both of them in complete silence, before Sansa took a deep and shaky breath, eyes watering, and said "I've been through..."

"Ladies!" Her grandmother's voice, Olenna, interrupted, entering the kitchen with her usual diligence. "Oh, Margaery, you're wonderful as ever." she greeted, giving her granddaughter a warm embrace and kissing both of her cheeks. "And Sansa Stark! How are you, dear?" She asked, lowering her voice as if in confidence.

Margaery had noticed since they were little that Sansa always felt a mixture of insecurity and admiration towards the older woman, even if her ironic remarks scandalized her sometimes. Olenna carried herself with confidence and energy, traits that Margaery also valued and wished she would be able to exhibit so easily. Maybe age would grant her wish, she never knew. After all, with it came wisdom, didn't it?

"Y-yes" said Sansa, her voice stuttering. She blinked her tears back, probably wishing that Olenna hadn't noticed them. But Margaery knew that she probably did, and that her grandmother would ask her about what happened to Sansa later. She didn't know what she would answer, or if she wanted to answer at all.

"I'm sorry about your father, dear. The accident he had was terrible, but sometimes we have no choice but to take what life gives us, even If it's complete bullshit," she snorted, grabbing a cracker and biting it. "For the love of the seven, what kind of snack is this?"

"they're rice crackers, grandma." answered Margaery, smiling.

"And this is supposed to be a snack? This is neither a snack nor anything. Here." she said, handing twenty bucks to Margaery "go and buy some real food with this. Chocolate cookies, cupcakes, lemoncakes... Whatever you two fancy".

"Thank you, grandma!" Margaery kissed Olenna's cheek.

"Thank you, miss Tyrell." The Stark girl muttered with her head lowered. Olenna patted Sansa's arm.

"Come on, you're still fresh as roses. You have a lot of years ahead of you, life doesn't stop when your loved ones die"

"Thank you for your words, you're too kind, miss Tyrell." Sansa replied, a tiny smile in her lips.

"No need for such formalities, girl. Come on, go you two before Roseroad closes."

"Of course." Said Margaery, grabbing her jacket and purse. She also gave Sansa hers. "See you later, grandma!" She said cheerfully before closing the door after her.

"That's it." Olenna sighed, before taking seat and looking at the screen of her mobile phone. "Be free while you still can, be young."

***

"You've grown a lot since you left." Margaery noted, tiptoeing to see if she could reach Sansa's height "Now I'm the short one."

"Yes, at Winterfell sometimes they called me giraffe." Sansa replied, smiling shyly.

"You're also prettier than before, did you know?" _And even shier_ , she thought, grabbing Sansa's arm and winking at her "You really look like your mom!" At the mention of it, Sansa's smile froze and her arm stiffened. Margaery quickly noticed it, and she let it go.

"How about you?" Replied Sansa, trying to suppress her uneasiness. "I remember how your hair used to be a nightmare back in elementary."

"Yeah." Margaery sighed, a strand of hair twined between her fingers. "Well, I took care of that. Hair products truly do wonders."

"Can I touch it?"

"Of course, Sans, it's not gonna bite your fingers or anything," Margaery laughed. Sansa caressed her brown curls, putting a strand of hair that fell over Margaery's eye under her ear.

"It's so soft... I could be touching it all day" Upon hearing that, Margaery couldn't suppress a grin.

"Maybe when we go home again we could do a girl's night. You know, braiding our hair, making popcorn, watching some horror movies..."

"Horror movies?! Couldn't we stick with Romeo and Juliet?" Protested Sansa, horrified. Margaery just smiled. She, of the two, was the one that looked more mature despite their height differences. _You haven't changed at all, Sansa dear_ , she thought.

"Come on, we're older now! We have to start leaving those sugary stories aside."

"Romeo and Juliet die, you know." Sansa replied, still unconvinced.

"Come on, it's kind of a stupid death anyway." Margaery countered.

"Well, there you got me."

"I promise it won't be very scary. We'll watch Rogue or something like that. Nothing that won't let you sleep."

"Okay" sighed Sansa. Margaery looked at her sideways as silence grew between them. Sansa seemed to have her mind on another place, maybe on Winterfell. Margaery wanted to help her with whatever that made her so sad, but she didn't want to force her friend to tell her what happened. Even then, she still had to try.

"Sansa," she started. "Before, when I asked you about Winterfell... What were you going to say?" Silence still remained for a while after her words.

"Oh, that." Sansa said, sounding as If she was having trouble swallowing her own saliva. She breathed deeply before answering "I would rather tell you later, Margs." and she looked at her eyes, a silent plea written in them. Margaery was going to respect that, even when it hurt. _I suppose this is what true friendship is like_.

"Okay, it's fine Sansa." her hand searched her friend's, and she gave it a tight squeeze. Sansa smiled, like she always did when she was with her, like she did when they were kids. And it was the type of smile that Margaery treasured the most.

It started raining then, and they had to run towards the shop before they ended up soaked, but Margaery thought that she wouldn't have cared to end up drenched to the bone If she could just have known what happened to her friend.

***

"So, what do we watch?" Asked Margaery, turning around from her computer as she heard Sansa enter her room. The sight she found behind her made her blush: Sansa had just finished showering, and was wearing nothing but a towel over her body, her wet hair sticking to the naked skin of her shoulders. Self-conscious, Sansa pressed the towel tighter to her body.

"W-well, I better get dressed first." she answered, a nervous laugh gurgling from her lips.

"Of course, of course." Said Margaery, turning to the computer screen quickly. For some reason, even as Sansa disappeared again into the bathroom after having picked some clothes, the sight of the girl half-naked didn't leave her mind. _Well, she's beautiful, surely that's normal_ , she thought. "Let's see..." She muttered, in an attempt to distract herself "Saw... No, too gory. Rogue... Hm, maybe... Deep blue sea will be too much... But maybe Killer Mountain could do. Well, Sans, which one do you want?" She asked when the auburn-haired girl appeared again, this time dressed with some pajamas that Margaery had lent her.

"Hm... Rogue sounds interesting... Like some cool code name for a super-clever and beautiful French spy or something." said Sansa, sitting at her side and wrapping an arm over her shoulder. Her skin was warm after the shower, and it made Margaery want to lean her head into the other girl's neck.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but actually it's about a giant crocodile."

"Oh... Then no."

"How about Killer Mountain?"

"That one sounds awful." Protested Sansa.

"It is, basically it's about a group of people that go to a mountain, where a giant snake lives and wants to eat them all. It's awful and badly done, but it's funny." Margaery said, already clicking the link to see it.

"Well, okay. Let's give it a shot!" Sansa seemed livelier than before as she grabbed a cushion and pressed it against her chest, as she usually did when they were kids and were about to watch a movie that excited her. "Popcorn?" She asked, looking wide-eyed at Margaery.

"Here they are" She replied as she handed a bowl full of them to Sansa, shuffling her auburn hair jokingly. "Leave me some, please."

"You know that I always do, Margs."

"You didn't do it last time."

"Come on! That was Lady" Sansa reminded, amused.

"Yeah, say what you will, but I still don't buy it." They both laughed at that, before the movie started and made them go silent until some of the scenes were just too funny to resist a good laugh.

***

"Gods." Sansa let go another burst of laugh. "It was really awful."

"I know, right? And it's supposed to be scary."

"You're scarier than that movie, Margaery."

"Really? I'm **that** ugly?" Sansa punched her arm jokingly, shaking her head in disagreement.

"You're not ugly and you know it. What I meant is that... Well, that the movie is not scary at all."

"Good to know, then." Margaery sighed, laying at her side on the bed. Sansa stared at her with what seemed awe, and started to caress her hair softly. Margaery looked back at her, an eyebrow raised, and said "do you want to braid my hair now?"

"Um... Yeah." Said Sansa, suddenly shy. Margaery turned back, flat on the bed covers, and gave Sansa a comb and an elastic.

Sansa was hesitant at first, careful to not tear hair from her friend's scalp while she fought with the tangles on it, but soon became used to combing those brown curls. Margaery felt how the girl's hands relaxed, the comb's movements feeling less stiffened, and sighed with relief when she felt Sansa's fingers on her scalp, braiding expertly her mane into a crown braid. Surely she had done the same thousands of times with her own hair, Margaery thought, half-dozing at the comfortableness of the moment. She had missed this, the little things that were only hers and Sansa's alone, the soft touches they gave each other every time they applied makeup or styled their hairs. Sure, she had other girl friends, but Sansa was the one she loved the most. Only Sansa was able to make her feel so worried, only she could still make her feel so close to her after all those years. And only Sansa made every touch feel like little sparkles dancing on her skin at the rhythm of her fingers. The older girl felt disappointed when she felt Sansa's hands leave her, the crown braid already resting against her head. She raised her head to see herself in the mirror, but Sansa's hand atop her forehead made her stop.

"I'm not done yet, Margs." Sansa said, reaching for something in her nightstand drawer. She searched for a while, until she seemed to find what she was looking for. "I'm glad you didn't throw them away. After all these years, I thought that maybe..." And she drew out some flower pins, some in different shades of turquoise and pink, some golden and some green. "I bet they still look lovely on you" and with that, she started to slid them between the strands of hair of the braid, mixing all the colors like she saw fit. Margaery felt at ease like that, and she wished that moment could last forever.

"You really have soft fingers, Sans." she purred. Behind her Sansa smiled, putting the last pins in place.

"Ta-da! I finished." She said, getting off Margaery's back and letting her go to see her new hairstyle.

Margaery saw the braid, so well-made, and the flowers that Sansa had put so elegantly in it. It was no wonder they looked so stunning, the colors of each flower perfectly in tune with the next - her younger friend had always had skill for those things. Art, poetry and fashion were without doubt Sansa Stark's fields of expertise.

"It's really pretty, thank you." Margaery left a peck on Sansa's forehead.

"Well, thank you." Said Sansa, looking shy yet proud at the same time. "You want to braid mine?"

"Of course." And with that, Margaery started to part the red locks of her friend, her fingers caressing them as If they were made of gold.

***

What was happening to Sansa? She could only wonder when she saw the message she had left her.

"Margaery" she read again in her phone screen. "I think it's better If we don't see each other in a while. I hope you don't think it's your fault, because this is not the case at all. It's just that I want to explain some things to you, important things, and I need some space to put them in order, to figure how I want to say them to you."

Margaery leaned against her kitchen counter, confused. Yesterday they were just fine, talking cheerfully on the phone, and during the last month they had seemed to be going back to where they left all those years ago. Sansa seemed happier, too. Their friendship seemed to be readjusting, and she didn't see any problem between them aside from the obvious, uncomfortable silence about what happened at Winterfell. Maybe she wanted to talk about it at last, Margaery thought, but what If she had offended Sansa in some way? But she also said that it wasn't her fault...

Margaery sighed and served herself a bowl of chocolate cereals. After that, she headed back to her room and texted Elinor. A second later, her phone rang.

"Girl troubles again?" Teased Elinor from the other end of the line.

"Oh, Elinor, you know it's not like that."

"Well, what happens, then? You said something about Sansa."

"Yes. Well... She's been acting weird lately. Have you ever felt as If you had someone you loved suffering in front of you, but you couldn't reach them? It's frustrating." Margaery sighed, her hand wiping her forehead.

"Oh my god, Margaery Tyrell, the charming, popular and oh-so-calm girl is frustrated and eating a ton of chocolate cereals as If she's a pussy schoolgirl that has been dumped by her boyfriend. Maybe I woke up in an alternative dimension of reality today." Her cousin said, sounding particularly amused.

"Elinor, please, this is serious."

"Sorry, my bad. Hadn't realized that the Stark girl really meant so much to you."

"Don't you begin your teasing again. I already told you we're not like that."

"Hey, now you interpreted it like that, no homo intended there. I know you're not dykes, so relax." Margaery just listened, silent this time. "Look, I know that feeling pretty well. Sometimes I feel like this myself towards you. Don't go saying I don't have reasons, because wanting to run the political party of your father once you're able to is really a big deal. The thing is... Sorry for derailing off topic, but sometimes you just have to let people make their own decisions. I know you used to protect Sansa when you were kids, but this can't last forever. She's a fifteen year old girl now, and she has to fend for herself in this shitty world, Margaery. You can't be always deciding what she should and should not do."

"But If she's going to make a mistake I..."

"Don't go pulling the 'I'll protect her of herself' card now. Let her make her fucking mistakes, for the love of god. She's a teenager, mistakes are part of our nature." Margaery sighed.

"Okay, I'll let her be." But even after she hanged, she wasn't entirely convinced of Elinor's arguments.

***

"Hey Margs! :)" The screen of her phone showed. Margaery's heart did skip a beat at that. Sansa had been silent during two weeks, and the unexpected message excited her.

"Hey Sansa! How are you?" She answered no sooner that she had seen it.

"Fine, thanks. Do you want to meet today? Maybe at 18:00?"

"Oks, perfect! Where do you want us to meet? My house?"

"Better mine. My mother is gone for the weekend, and neither Robb, Arya or Bran will pester us."

"Okay, see you there then." Gods, she was happy. She thought that Sansa was going to open up about Winterfell at last, and she wondered what could it be as she had always done since the day the girl had returned. Maybe she was robbed? Or bullied? Or - and the idea alone made her freeze - had she been stalked or assaulted? As much as she hated to admit it, they were all possible. Sansa was naïve and beautiful after all, and terrible things usually happened to her because of that. At 17: 00, she threw her pajamas aside, put on a blue summer dress with black ballerinas, applied some makeup and went to take the bus to the Stark's house.

The Stark household was big but practical, with walls that from the outside looked like stones, and in the inside were painted in dull white and gray tones. Margaery always thought it was a little cold, and she never felt truly at home in that atmosphere, as it had nothing to do with her house, fancy and vibrant with activity. The Tyrell's residence was thoroughly decorated, always in style and keeping up with all the home fashions of the moment, and before meeting the Starks, Margaery thought that every important family had a house as fancy as hers. So she was pretty surprised the first time she went to Sansa's house and she found herself expecting something better than what she found at every corner, behind every closed door. But she ended up understanding that, for Sansa and the Starks, this was home, a home just as good as any, and she didn't think more about it.

She rang the doorbell, expecting one of their servants to go open the door, but instead Sansa appeared, dressed in a black, short-sleeved t-shirt and a denim skirt. Upon seeing her, Sansa smiled from ear to ear, bright as ever.

"Hello, Margs." She greeted, nervous. She looked to her toes before meeting her eyes again. "I was playing in the balcony with Lady and I saw you arrive. How are you?"

"Fine, Sansa. I think the real question here is, how are **you**?" She asked, her eyebrows raised with curiosity.

"Oh, well, let's talk about this inside, shall we?" She said, letting Margaery in. They went inside the house in complete silence, a silence that the corridors echoed until they reached Sansa's room.

"Where are your siblings?"

"Arya is playing at her new Assassin's Creed videogame in her room, Bran is out with Jojen and Meera, and Robb is babysitting Rickon."

"It's great to have such a big family." Margaery stated, thinking about her own brothers. Almost all of them were in university now, and they seldom saw each other. She still had Loras, of course, but she missed to be four instead of two.

"Yeah, although sometimes it's annoying as hell." Sansa said, laughing. "Do you want something to eat?"

"An iced tea would be great, really." Margaery answered, taking a seat at the bed. She could feel the straps and back of the dress sticking to her body, and she hated nothing more than the feeling of sweaty fabric clinging to her. Even the Stark's house, that was in one of the coldest places of Highgarden, was not immune to the horrors of summer heat.

"Okay, I'll come back in a second." And with that, Sansa went to the kitchen. Margaery took that as an opportunity to look closely at Sansa's bedroom - only the pink walls that she got as a present at her eight birthday remained the same, with the addition of a poster of Jennifer Lawrence. She had more shelves now, some of them full of books and teen magazines, and she got a new, less childish bed and a sophisticated dresser of dark wood. _So classy and feminine, so Sansa_ , she thought with a smile. From all the Stark's rooms, it was the one that she liked the most. It was very pink, that was true, but it looked livelier than all of the others combined.

"Hey!" Sansa opened the door clumsily, two glasses in one hand and a bottle of iced lemon tea in the other.

"You're going to drop something. Here." Margaery took the glasses quickly, Sansa's relief showing instantly in her face. She served tea in both glasses and Margaery took a sip.

"Do you like it? It's homemade."

"It's great." answered Margaery, taking a long gulp and feeling a lot more refreshed than before. "Now, Sansa, what did you want to tell me?" She asked, a little impatient. What could have happened at Winterfell worried her a lot, and although she was prepared to hear every possibility she had thought of, she wanted to know already. It would be better than anxiously wondering without having no idea, that's for sure.

"Well, I wanted to talk about a lot of things with you." She looked at Margaery straight in the eye. "Four years are a lot of time, after all, and you've always been a dear friend." Margaery stayed silent, paying attention to Sansa's every word. Sansa swallowed, nervous as hell. "But there's something that I think you should know about me first, something I discovered two years ago." the more she talked, the more she grew paler and paler, and to Margaery she looked like she was about to faint. The Tyrell girl put a hand over Sansa's own, trying to calm her down.

"Come on, Sansa, it can't be something that terrible." Sansa took a deep breath, and Margaery saw that her eyes were watery.

"I'm not sure about that." She replied, smiling tensely. "I'm a lesbian, Margaery."


	2. Some girls surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Margaery's reaction to Sansa's coming out and some confessions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So second chapter is up, folks! Thank you all for your kudos and reviews, you're lovely :) This chapter is less fluffy than the first, so sorry about that. I hope I don't punch anyone in the feelings. Btw, I should add that, in this fic, I aged up Elinor and the Tyrell cousins in general. Elinor is 18, older than Margs, Megga is 17 and Alla 14. Also, Loras is totally in Narnia... I mean, in the closet. How he managed to remain there despite the obviousness of his orientation is a mystery.

The room fell silent moments after Sansa's confession. Margaery looked at her, wide-eyed with either sheer surprise of pure disbelief, her hand frozen halfway to taking her cup of tea again. She looked so proper, even when startled. Sansa gulped, looking at her own fidgeting hands. The look Margaery was casting her made her want to run away - and she wasn't even glaring or looking bad at her. It was just that - well, all of that was too much, and she couldn't make out what Margaery was thinking.

"Well" Said Margaery, going out of her reverie "It's... Certainly surprising. I mean... I didn't think that you were the type... Well, it's not that there's a type, I guess?" she muttered, insecure, looking first at Sansa's long hair and later at her clothes. She would have looked extremely calm, If it wasn't by the slight twitch of her mouth. Sansa blushed upon hearing her words. She felt as If she was judging her and examining her closely, and for the first time in her life she wasn't sure that she was alright with it. She was Margs, okay, but even then... Well, she was also a girl. _And I'm a lesbian. And I just came out to her_ , Sansa thought, her face feeling as If it was set on fire. She took a long, awkward gulp of her glass of tea - she wasn't thirsty, but she felt that she had to do something, anything to make the nerves go away.

"But how come you've noticed it now? I mean, didn't you have crushes on boys back in elementary?"

"Margs, those weren't serious. I mean, I knew nothing about how love or attraction really felt."

"I suppose you're right..." Said Margaery, thoughtful, looking at the dresser. "I'm sorry, Sansa, it's just that you're the last person from whom I expected this." Sansa felt somewhat uncomfortable at her answer. It sounded like deception, like she had broken some unspoken rule of decorum in public. An awkward silence followed, in which the Stark girl just wanted to exclaim "It was a joke!", laugh nervously, and go back to how things were before those two weeks. But she knew she would sound fake and Margaery wouldn't believe her (and probably would think she was a wimp), and that coming out to her was already done. She couldn't go back now, If only for the fact that, sooner or later, Margaery would know anyway by third parties. Sansa felt her hands tremble. _I was so not ready for this_.

"Well..." Blurted Sansa awkwardly. "Everything is going to be okay, isn't it?" _God, I sound ridiculous and desperate_. "I mean, we're still friends, right?"

"Of course, Sansa," Margaery smiled reservedly, arms crossed. "It's not like it's some terrible dark secret, you know. And by the way, your room really has changed a lot, it's really pretty!" she said, recovering her enthusiasm immediately and drinking another gulp of tea.

"Well..." Sansa stuttered, momentarily confused by the sudden change of topic. "...Thank you. Really, you should see Arya's"

"I suppose it's full of videogames and clothes thrown on the floor."

"Yeah, well, that's Arya for you." Sansa rolled her eyes. "And now that she does fencing she has a practice sword there too."

"Fencing? That's great!" Margaery said, getting up from the bed "Can we go see her? You know that fencing always interested me." For a moment Sansa wanted to protest, but somehow she didn't find herself capable to. Margaery smiled so sweetly at her. Maybe the feeling that they hadn't talked about everything enough was just some petty impression of her, decided Sansa. And with that, she got up too and went to Arya's room with Margaery. They all ended up going to the yard and playing with Lady and Nymeria.

Only when dusk settled and Margaery went back home, Sansa remembered that she hadn't told her about Winterfell.

***

Sansa sat barefoot in the backyard, feeling how the grass tickled her feet, and stared into the horizon. It was pretty: even at night, Higharden's sky was something she missed during those years at Winterfell. At morning it was always light blue, pinkish and orange, with even a bit of lilac in it, and it was fantastic to wake up and see a dawn like that. At night was full of bright stars that seemed to make the sky less dark, and even give more life to the city. Like it wasn't full of activity already at nighttime, the parties held during Saturdays at the city clubs being louder at summer. She still could feel the pleasant echo of some catchy summer hit from their garden, not too loud to really disturb her. At Winterfell there had been none of that. The parties were somewhat secluded, and the skies had been gray and full of clouds, seeming dull compared to the ones she was used to since she was a child. Some days, just waking up and looking at that colorless sky depressed her a little.

 _Yes_ , she thought, smiling dreamily, _I'm glad to be back_. Even then, the weird sensation that she had felt since Margaery left the house didn't disappear. Suddenly, something frozen cold touched her cheek, and she gasped, recoiling clumsily before hearing her little sister snort.

"Damn, Arya, you scared me." she said, glaring annoyed at her sister. She was looking as chill as ever, rumpling carelessly her hair, recently cropped short again and wearing an extra-sized T-shirt with some rock band logo and old denim trousers. Surely that was what Margaery had in mind when she talked about a certain type of girl that does the things that Sansa would like to do.

"What are you doing here smiling like an idiot?" Asked Arya before bringing the can of orange soda to her mouth, gulping hastily. Even her manners were the polar opposite of Sansa, who was measured and elegant in everything she did, too eager to please to make something more eagerly than she was supposed to.

"The same as you doing stupid jokes like a child, I suppose." Arya just grinned wider "Really, it's not funny."

"If you had seen your face, you would have thought it is." She took a seat at Sansa's side nonchalantly, and offered her some soda. Sansa refused.

"Actually, there's something I wanted to ask you." Arya said, a strange expression in her face.

"What is it?"

"You and Margaery were weird today. And I thought that you said that you wanted to spend the day with her and therefore didn't want me around?" She inquired, eyebrow raised in that way of hers that made her look really clever.

"Well... I told her... You know."

"That you like pussy?"

"Arya!" Sansa scolded her, face red with embarrassment. "Don't say it like that. It sounds gross." the younger girl just shrugged.

"Whatever. So, you said it to her, and I guess she didn't stomach it very well, did she?"

"It's not that. She has been... Comprehensive. I mean, it's not like she has spit me or insulted me, and we're still friends. But even then, there's something that bugs me about how all of it went down. Probably it's just me. Probably I'm just being paranoid." Sansa sighed.

"Yeah. The last time you said that, the thing you were supposedly so 'paranoid' about turned out to be some serious shit involving a stalker and a crazy aunt that made you fill a police report and sent us back here. So, If I were you, I wouldn't dismiss it so quickly."

Sansa gulped. She didn't like remembering how all of that went down. It wasn't like the thing reached hellish levels, the ones that use to appear in newspapers all the time, no, not even dangerous ones, but the dread of the situation still haunted her. She couldn't forget the fear, the feeling of being guilty of something that invaded her during those weeks. She still hadn't come out to her family then, and she felt thankful for that. They surely couldn't have dealt with those two things at once.

The winter she made fifteen she still felt so little, so defenseless against everything. She felt that words and opinions could destroy her, and so she made sure to conceal herself so none would reach her. It was like she ran away every time she lied about either of those worries, of those things for which she obviously had to find a solution for.

Arya probably noticed her tribulations, and returned to the topic.

"Although I think that the poster of Jennifer Lawrence should have given some clue about you."

"Hey, it's not like it's deliberately sexy or something like that." Sansa said, smiling a little despite herself. Sometimes Arya got on her nerves, but other times she managed to make her smile with her way of speaking her mind. 

"True. Maybe we should go buy better posters. I want a new one of Zelda. And you could pick that one of Dianna Agron in that sexy black corset. It will save you a lot of words and coming-outs."

"Arya!" Said Sansa again, this time laughing and shaking her sister's shoulders.

"Hey, hey, you're going to make me spill my soda!" Arya protested, although she was also laughing. Sansa stopped then, and laid her back on the grass. Arya got to her side, brown and red hair intertwining in contrast like night and day "You know, I think you should talk to Margaery."

"Me?" Sansa looked at her as If she was an alien "What for? I mean, it's not like she has been a prick about it."

"Maybe it's nothing, but If you're feeling something, then go with your gut. Sansa, you've been terrible at trusting yourself since we came back, and... I don't know, mom noticed something weird in you, don't think that she isn't worried, and so are Robb, Bran and I. Sometimes you're so quiet about everything that it seems as If you want to disappear.. I don't know, what I mean is... You're not wrong for feeling bad about things sometimes." Arya said, nervous. She wasn't used to be the one to lecture Sansa. _But she's trying_ , thought Sansa, _and I love her for it_.

"Thanks, Arya." she said, hugging her, grass still tickling their necks and bare arms.

"You're welcome." Said Arya, a little stiff. Sansa knew she didn't like hugs very much, but sometimes she just had to give her one for being such a little sister. "Anyway, there's something about Margaery that I don't trust." Sansa froze there. She thought about Margaery, the sweet, always graceful Margaery, and wondered how Arya could feel like that about her.

"But she's great, Arya. She's always there to comfort me, she has always been a true friend. She's so patient and-"

"Exactly!" Jumped Arya. "Don't you feel like she's too patient with people? I think that she keeps a lot to herself. I couldn't stand a day being her without mentally murdering all the pricks and pretentious assholes that want to be her friends just because she's a Tyrell." Sansa rolled her eyes.

"Well, she's not you."

"True enough. But even after knowing her all those years, I've never really seen her lose her temper. I think you don't know someone until you've seen their worst."

***

Sansa, of course, didn't bring up the topic again during those days. She was obviously imagining things. Margaery wasn't secretly mean like Arya seemed to think, no. _I'm just being silly about this,_ she thought the day after she came out to her. So no, she said nothing, although it wasn't as If she had any opportunity to bring it up, since Margs seemed to have vanished from the earth since then. After a month of talking almost every day until the two weeks of silence from Sansa's part, this struck the latter as weird. _She's busy, for sure. There's only one month left of summer break, surely she has a lot of people to meet and homework to do_.

"Hey :)" She texted three weeks later, carefully, sending it after changing her mind about it a thousand of times.

"Hey!" Replied Margaery, much to Sansa's relief. _I knew everything was alright_. "How you've been?"

"Fine, how about you?"

"Fine too. Want to meet this Sunday? We're going to watch a movie with Megga, and to see the summer fireworks later."

"Okay, perfect!"

***

"Sansa!" Exclaimed Megga, as If seeing the girl was the best thing that happened to her during months. She hugged Sansa tightly with her plump arms, giving her two big kisses on the cheeks. "How have you been? I didn't knew you had returned since I talked with Margaery last week!" Sansa smiled. Megga was a young, kind and funny girl, and she always had something to talk about and a warm hug ready for everyone. Her boisterous attitude annoyed some people, but Sansa found it endearing: it saved her from lots of summers of stuttering shyness at the summer camps she used to go with Margaery and her cousins when they were children. Elinor was older, more prone to being brash and witty, with messy hair framing her face and a gangly figure that towered over Sansa, who somewhat feared her. Little Alla, all doe eyes and long, black hair, was too young to chat with her like with a friend, especially with the little girl being charmed by Elinor's confident attitude, all the day behind her like a little duck following her mother. From Margaery's cousins, Megga was the one she liked the most, the only one with enough easy-going attitude and romantic ideas to really get along with. She also teached Sansa how to swim after one day Elinor pushed the Stark girl into a lake, laughing and probably thinking that she would know how to do it already.

"I'm fine, Megga, I missed Highgarden so much! how you've been?" She said, enthusiastic. Megga then proceeded to tell her how school was going, expressed her doubts about what she should do once she finished it, rambled about how hard was to find a job during summer and told her all about her last conquest, a college boy named Mark. She also mentioned that she wanted to get a tattoo on her arm, designed like an ivy. Sansa examined her, then: with her mint green dress and sweet expression, she wasn't the type of person that Sansa saw fit to get a tattoo. But then again, one never knew. _Some girls surprise, I guess_. Like she surprised Margaery three weeks ago.

Margaery, it had been easy to ignore her while talking with Megga, but now she remembered that the girl was there, silent at their side, looking at the cinema's billboard with interest. Sansa felt a little embarrassed having ignored her all this time.

"Hey, Margaery..." She greeted.

"Hello, Sansa." a spark of amusement twinkled in Margaery's eyes. "Which movie do you want to see?"

"How about something scary?" Sansa said, feeling a sudden rush of cheekiness.

"Ow, no, please." Begged Megga, sighing "I've had enough with scary movies for all my life since Margaery took a strange addiction to them." She said, glaring at her cousin.

"Okay, okay." Margaery grinned, "let's settle for something of... Mystery, then?" she asked, looking at the Sherlock Holmes poster.

"Fine with me." Approved Sansa. Megga agreed, and Megga and Margaery went to buy the tickets while Sansa went inside to get the popcorn and drinks. She waited for them to get there, but when they didn't appear, she went to the ticket windows to see what was happening.

Margaery and Megga were talking, seemingly worried, and Sansa approached faster to them.

"Sansa!" Margaery was the first to notice her, looking up and getting to help her with the popcorn and drinks. "We're having some trouble with the tickets." she gestured to the girl in the ticket window Megga was talking to.

"Can't we get those seats? Really?"

"Sorry, but there's only two seats in that row. The only thing I can do is to give you the third in the next row, but the other seats are taken." Megga sighed, looking at Margaery quizzically.

"It's fine." Said Margs. "You and Sansa obviously need to talk about a lot of things. I mean, come on, I've been with her during a month, you two deserve to have your time together."

"But Margaery..." Protested Sansa. She knew she was being selfish, but she wanted to be at her side, have a moment of confidence away from Megga's ears. _What for, Sansa?_ she thought to herself, _you don't want to talk about the coming out, silly._

"Oh, don't feel bad, Sansa!" Said Megga carelessly, thinking that Sansa wanted to leave the two cousins together "Margaery and I see each other a lot, so it's fine."

Sansa did shut up. She didn't want to sound like an egoist. _Yes, I'm reading too much into things_ , she thought. Margaery looked beautiful that day, all dressed in a simple lace dress, white as snow and in stark contrast with her brown hair, tied in a ponytail. Sansa liked to think that she was too beautiful to be bad, too beautiful to hurt her in any way. _It's just my mind, that's it._

There were moments in which she felt she could drown in her beauty, get drunk from it as she noticed little details in her: the shape of her lips, the soft curve of her jaw, her graceful neck... But that was dangerous, she reminded to herself. Margaery was her best friend, but also a girl. She didn't want to take things further than that, and probably Margaery thought the same about the matter.

Sansa took her seat next to Megga, nodding from time to time and making jokes occasionally. Being silent in a movie with Megga at her side was impossible. She made some funny remarks, although sometimes Sansa would prefer her to shut up, as she was one to get quietly immersed in stories. But it was clear that she wouldn't be able during that movie, so she went along and had fun joking with Megga. In a moment of daze, though, she gazed at Margaery's nape from her seat, wondering what she thought about the movie so far, and when she least expected, Margaery turned back and winked cheekily at her. Sansa couldn't suppress a giggle.

"I know, right? It's so crazy it makes you laugh at first, but he really had a monkey as a pet!" she proclaimed loudly. Someone near them whispered a "shhhh".

"Oh, I see," whispered Sansa clumsily, "by the way, Margaery has been very busy lately, hasn't she?" Megga smiled at her coquettishly, as if she just said something spicy.

"Well, busy, busy... I won't say that just yet, they're still not that into each other, you know? But you know how love starts..."

"Wait, what?" Sansa was puzzled. Megga just raised her eyebrows suggestively, still smiling. Something about it made Sansa nervous.

"Come on, Sansa, you know how it goes."

"Well... I don't know what you're talking about, I think...?" Megga then looked at her, incredulous.

"Hasn't Margaery told you?"

"Told me what?"

"About her boyfriend." Now it was Sansa the surprised one.

"Margaery has a... Boyfriend? Since when?"

"They met a week ago. We went to a bar and there they met. He's very handsome, and has a good sense of humor to boot! I'm happy for our Margs. I just wonder how she didn't have any boy before him. She's so popular she could have had anyone at her feet. They were starting to call her 'the virgin' for that at school, you know?" she giggled "As If she wanted to be a nun or something!"

Sansa tried to giggle with her, but her laugh felt stiff.

***

Megga had to go sooner than expected. Mark was going to be in town for the fireworks, and she wanted to see him now that she could.

 _So it's just her and me, then_. Sansa looked at Margaery with doubt in her eyes. Nothing about her looked different than it had three weeks ago. She smiled, acted and talked exactly like then. Sansa supposed, as naïve as it was, that she could be able to notice when an important friend of hers had fallen in love, but she realized now that it wasn't the case. _I mean, Beth and Jeyne were obviously blatant, but Margaery looks so... Normal. She hasn't even talked about him. Yet._

 Why hadn't she told her about her boyfriend? Weren't they best friends? Maybe she was being childish, but she felt a pang of worry because of that.

"It looks like it's going to be just the two of us." Said Margaery casually. Maybe she was thinking about going to meet her boyfriend too. Sansa thought about saying that it would be fine: she could go home or see the fireworks on her own, but Margaery didn't know she did know she had a boyfriend, and it would just be awkward.

"Yeah..." She said instead, looking at her feet nervously. She felt like an idiot.

"Well, let's get going then!" It was still ten o'clock, and the fireworks were going to start in half an hour, so they went to a bar to drink something.

"Have you ever tried tequila, Sansa?" Margaery asked, titling her head. Sansa flushed.

"No, I tried beer and wine, but that's it." The other girl smiled, understanding, and Sansa felt painfully childish in that moment.

"Well, then today it will be your first time. Four shots of tequila, please." She ordered to the barman.

Once at their table, Sansa looked back and forth to the salt and the slices of lemon.

"Which goes first?" She asked, confused, while Margaery divided the shots and the lemon for the two of them.

"The salt, usually, but do it however you want. The order is not that important."

"Hum, okay." It all felt weird, but the tequila wasn't that bad. More than the taste, though, Sansa loved the sensation she got from it. She felt freer with every shot, bolder. It gave her a feeling of confidence that she didn't have sober. They ended up ordering four more shots.

When they went to the fireworks, Sansa was smiling like an idiot, her cheeks red. Margaery looked fresh as a rose, and the way Sansa was behaving seemed to stuck her as amusing.

"Here, here," She said playfully, taking Sansa by the waist when they were crossing the street, "we don't want you to get hit by a car." Sansa flushed redder then.

"I'm not drunk, Margaery. Just a little tipsy." She replied. But she didn't push Margaery away. It felt... Nice. Her hand remained there after they had crossed the street, and even as they searched for a place to see the fireworks.

"Damn, it's so crowded... I don't want to get lost!" Margaery complained, holding Sansa closer. _It's funny_ , Sansa thought, _funny because it feels nice_. Was that a thing that friends did all the time? Back at Winterfell she never did this with Beth or Jeyne. Sure, it didn't seem that weird, but even then... Some people were staring at them. _What will they think? Will they think we're a couple or what?_ For some reason, that didn't annoy Sansa in the slightest. In a way, they were already each other's... Best friend. And even as she knew that love with a best friend was complicated and ended badly more often than not, she didn't mind the idea of being intimate with her. Her touch was warm, and she - _Stop Sansa, she's your best friend, you should think about her like you do about Arya_ , she remembered herself, _and besides, she has a boyfriend_.

They found a place in a bench near the beach, and Margaery let Sansa go. Sansa missed the warmth of her hand, but said nothing of it. _Margaery was right, I must be drunk now..._

"Remember when we went once as kids?" Said Margaery, eyes gleaming at the memory.

"Yeah! I found it awesome. But you said you didn't understand why people went to see things explode in the sky, and tried to convince me to go to another place to play while the adults were distracted. We ended up getting lost and worrying our parents to death." They both laughed at that.

"Things were so different then... When you start being an adult, you notice how life is never as easy as it seems. You know, priorities and stuff."

"Yeah, a real drag sometimes..." Sansa gazed at the ocean in front of her, thoughtful. Who would have said to her when she was a kid that things could turn out to be so complicated? After her father's death, everything turned out to be so different that she had dreamed it would... During that instant she thought about talking about Winterfell with Margaery, about the stalker and her aunt, but she thought better of it. _No_ , she scolded herself, _you'll ruin everything. Margaery surely doesn't want to hear this now._ So instead, she kept looking at the sea: it was beautiful with all its waves and foam, even at night, although the water was dark like a nightmare. It seemed almost as If a horrible monster or an enormous shark was about to get out of the water. How was it during the day? It passed so much time since she went... Suddenly an idea came to her mind "Hey, before the semester starts, we should go to the beach at least once, don't you think?"

"I would love it, Sans." Margaery muttered, looking at the sea too. She had taken her shoes off and her feet were making lines in the sand. "Besides, I want to see you in a bikini. I bet you look great." Sansa blushed, and Margaery looked at her amused, a cat-like smile on her face. Then, she seemed to remember something and went just as red as her "Uhm, it really sounded as If I was flirting, didn't it? Maybe I'm also a little drunk" and she laughed to ease the awkwardness away. Luckily for her, a whistle-like sound pierced the air, a colorful bright yellow form in the sky following. "Oh, look, the fireworks are about to start!"

The fireworks went on, red, blue, violet, green and golden shapes exploding in the dark night sky, and Sansa found them more beautiful than ever. If it was because now she could appreciate them better or because she was drunk, she didn't know. But sometimes an explosion would startle Margaery, and she would stiffen a little and put her hand over Sansa's.

_Yeah, we look like a couple now, don't we?_

***

"Phew, I'm dead" Sansa slurred, falling to the bed next to Margaery's. The Tyrell girl's bed was one made for visits: under it, it had another shorter bed that they put out every time a friend came over. Sansa knew that bed like the palm of her hand, and even as a lot of time had passed, she still felt it familiar.

Margaery just laughed, poking her forehead.

"You drank too much."

"Come on! They were just shots. I'm fine." _Well, aside from my stupid wonderings about you and me, that's just weird._

"You better drink a lot of water. It helps."

"Yes, mum." Sansa teased. Margaery glared at her.

"Oh, gods, you're starting to sound like Elinor. I already have enough with one Elinor in my life, thanks." she sighed.

 _Did Elinor knew?_ Sansa wondered. _About the boyfriend?_

"What did you say?" Asked Margaery, eyes wide with surprise. Shit, she had said that out loud.

"Well... At the cinema, Megga said to me that you met a boy, is that true?" Margaery frowned, going to grab her pajamas with an annoyed expression.

"And what If I did?"

"Nothing, it's just that I didn't know and I found it weird. I mean... Why didn't you tell me?" Margaery sighed again, but this time differently. She sounded exasperated.

"Look, Sansa." She said, trying to sound patient, but coming across as defensive "Just as you have your secrets, I have mine okay?" The last thing Sansa wanted to talk about was that right now.

"If you're referring to Winterfell, It's not that I haven't told you about it because I don't want to. It's just that... Well, it's complicated and-"

"Oh, no, I get that," Margaery tried to sound more comprehensive now, but Sansa could tell that no, she really did not understand that. Or didn't have the patience to, right now, and she told her that just to make her shut up. "But you could have told me sooner about your confusion..." she went pale and shut up in that moment, but she already had said that out loud.

"... My what?"

"I meant your orientation. I'm sorry." Margaery bit her lip, nervous. Sansa didn't buy her excuse: it was politeness that talked for her now, the sense of being politically correct. She already had said what she really thought, and Sansa felt herself grow angry, irrationally angry at her assumptions.

"You think I'm confused? Really?" Her hands trembled a little when she felt nervous. She wished they would not, as she wanted to seem calm. But inside she felt herself starting to boil with rage. Sansa didn't like to be angry: she didn't know how to manage it, and it made her feel very violent. It was weird and unladylike, it was past her comfort zone.

"No... Okay, sometimes yes. I mean, look at you, have you ever kissed someone at least?"

"Well, had you before you had your boyfriend?"

"Yes." _Ugh, that was unexpected_ , thought Sansa. For a moment, she had forgot that they had their four years apart from each other.

"But even then you don't get to decide If I am this or that based on what I did." Margaery seemed hesitant.

"Of course I can. It's called judging."

"Well, friends don't do that to each other, that's just rude!" Sansa protested.

"No, it's not If they're trying to help." Margaery replied, cold but annoyed all the same. "And orientation is serious, Sansa. I don't think you're taking it seriously enough. You never had boy friends, let alone boyfriends so..." Sansa felt betrayed. She hadn't expected Margaery to judge her like that, as If she was an idiot that didn't knew a thing about the world, or a shallow asshole that just wanted attention. She knew she could be naïve and sometimes petty, but she was not THAT naïve. She had a difficult time coming to terms with everything about the last four years in her life, and Margaery wasn't there, and even If she had been there, she didn't have the right to treat her like that, to dismiss something that worried her, something that she was, as If it wasn't serious. Friends didn't do that. Friends stayed and listened.

"You don't know what I had and what I hadn't had. And even then, I am what I am. If you don't like it, that's your problem." She was shivering and could feel tears welling up in her eyes, but she didn't care. She wanted to say much more, but rage somehow paralyzed her.

"Fair enough, I suppose." Margaery replied.

"Very well." Sansa answered. She felt more hurt now that the discussion was over, and turned her back to Margaery before saying "Good night."

She could feel Margaery's eyes on her. If it was because she was angry, hurt or sad, she didn't knew. _And frankly, I don't feel like caring_ , Sansa told herself. After a while, Margaery turned off the light and said good night to her too.

***

The morning after was awkward as hell, even for Margaery. They had breakfast in silence, unsure about what to say, only smiling half-heartedly to each other over the table. It was early in the morning, and neither of them seemed to have slept well. Also, neither Megga nor Loras were there to alleviate the tension with some casual chat, unfortunately. Sansa thought about apologizing a couple of times, but she remembered the way Margaery talked the night before and decided not to.

 _She's the one that should be apologizing_ , Sansa decided haughtily, taking another bite of fried egg. The sound of the forks, plates and glasses of water were the only ones that echoed in the large halls, and they got Sansa all the more nervous. At last, Margaery finished her food, pulled her chair back and looked at Sansa with a thin-lipped smile.

"Well... I would love to go for a walk or go to the beach, but I have homework to do, so..." Sansa knew what it meant.

"Yes, I'll be going home now." She replied, already aching to get out of there. They weren't going to make up that morning, that was sure, so she'd rather go home than spend a morning of still uneasiness. She grabbed her bag and gave a quick hug to Margaery. "Good luck with the homework." The Tyrell girl looked at her with a sad smile.

"Goodbye, Sans. Take care." It looked like she did want to say something more, but in the end she didn't.

***

"She said that to you? Really?!" Arya was seething since Sansa had told her about the discussion they had. "Who the fuck does she think she is? Jesus!"

"It was all really awkward," sighed Sansa. Venting with Arya made her feel better and more in the right. Her little sister, the one that usually teased and pestered her, had immediately understood how it hurt to not be taken seriously. It had practically happened to her all her life, after all.

"Look, don't worry If she's being an ass about it. At the end of the day, it's her loss." _If only it was so easy to deal with it_ , Sansa thought.

"I know, Arya. But even then, it hurts to think about it. I thought it was all alright, but... I don't know... Maybe you were right about not knowing people until you've seen them under pressure."

"Then don't think so much!" Arya said, giving Sansa two pats in the head with a comic book. "Look, I have a friend in the fencing team who is always going to that really great lesbian bar. The next weekend you could meet to go there, and then you can forget about idiots like Margaery!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How was that? I'll have the third up sooner than this one, I hope, mostly because I hate to leave it like this. And it will include both Margaery's and Sansa's POV to understand Marg's situation and advance in Sansa's story a little. Gay bars will be involved, so expect actual lesbian action incoming (at last!).


	3. Thoughts left unsaid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An insight on Margaery's meeting with Renly, and the first time Sansa goes to a gay bar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, that one was hard. I’m on my aunt’s town for the holidays and I have to wait for the right time to have her laptop to write. But it’s finished, yay!
> 
> WARNING: this chapter contains the c-word. This may seem like a stupid warning, but I learned a couple of days ago that, in North America, that word was like WOAH THE ULTIMATE SWEAR WORD, SO RUDE. I did some research and I found that in some places it’s note like that, but that in some countries you had to be very careful with it, as saying it was a very big deal (this is the impression I’ve got, at least. If I’m wrong, please correct me). Where I live, we’re used to say/hear the equivalent in a daily basis and it’s just a mild swear word, so it was kind of shocking to discover. For a while I doubted about including it in the chapter (It has certain impact on the plot) but as I don’t even know from where the majority of people reading this story are, I opted for the warning and that’s it.

Saturday nights were a chaos during August, especially at the popular clubs near the Mander. Lots of people, sweat and alcohol going on there, along with the occasional enlightened that thought it a good idea to throw themselves or another unlucky one at the river before starting to laugh like a hyena. Nevermind that more than one had found their death at the Mander: when people were wasted, they didn't think at all about danger. Margaery tried to remember by the thousandth time why she had agreed to go to that club. Meredyth wanted to have fun that night, as well as Megga, and somehow they found a way to drag her along. She sighed. She hadn't went to a party since the last one at Elinor's house turned out quite awry, and she hadn't missed them that much since then. In fact, quite the contrary, she found herself missing the peace of home once she put her foot in the club. She also missed Alyce, with her mature and calm attitude that would have helped her to find a moment of peace in that party, but she hadn't wanted to come with them tonight. She was very evasive lately when it came to going out with them, and it stuck Margaery as weird.

Meredyth and Megga together were too much for her sometimes. The two of them were so keen on jokes and parties that going out with them was constant fun, If you were in the mood for it. But tonight, unfortunately for her, Margaery was not.

So she made her best effort to smile while they went to have their drinks. Meredyth knew the barman, so their age wouldn't be an issue there. While she talked with him, Megga turned her chatty self to Margaery.

"I was just thinking... Megga, Meredyth and Margaery sound very alliterative, don't they? Like a comic trio or something."

"More like a party trio." Proposed Margaery.

"Yeah! That's what we need, party! The finals were terrible, so now that's summer we have to have fun to our heart's content!" Meredyth cheered. She had failed the semester, but was determined to remain optimistic about next year. "By the way, girls, what do you want to drink?" Margaery decided to go for something sweet.

"Black vodka with lime, please" she shouted, hoping Meredyth could hear her over the sound of the music.

Seconds after they took their drinks and went to dance a little. Meredyth finished her drink in no time, and started to scan the room in search of some potential night stand while Megga and Margaery danced goofily. Margaery was feeling better after a while: she was one to get used fast to the mood of the others, and Megga's good mood was contagious, she had to admit. They put faces to each other and swirled around for a while, until Margaery felt herself go a little too far away, tripped and ended up hitting a boy. She shoved her elbow in his stomach, feeling his ribs above the point she had hit, and he put on a grimace of pain.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" She told him, leaning into his ear so he could hear her better. The boy - more like man, as he looked like he had twenty-something - smiled to her as If he found it all hilarious.

"Oh, don't be. You looked like you were having such a good time that I would hate to be the one that ruins it." she smiled at him. He seemed nice.

"What's your name? I'm sure my friends there will like to know the name of the pretty girl whose dance took my breath away." He said, gesturing to some boys at his left that were giggling and looking at both of them suggestively. She laughed and examined him, as she supposed she should in that situation: he was very good looking, with black hair and a tall, muscular frame, and was dressed in a very sophisticated way. She didn't know for sure If he was hitting on her, but she supposed it was not that bad of a match for a night, so she went along with it.

"Margaery, and yours?" He lifted his eyebrows at that.

"Ah, Margaery Tyrell?” She nodded “the daughter of Mace Tyrell, aren't you? I think I might have seen you a couple of times before. I'm Renly Baratheon, you probably know about me by my brother's political party, I figure." Oh, so a Baratheon, was he? Of course Margaery knew about them, who didn't? His older brother, Robert, was quite famous for his many scandals, which the press loved to write about. From passing out from drinking to visiting whores, Robert did it all and was known for it. Renly, though, was more discreet, his private life remaining exactly that, private. Sometimes he appeared in the newspapers with some inspiring talk about the future of the party, and Margaery suspected that he was planning to take the place of his brother. If he was, he had it easy, as the popular surveys favored him. A lot of people agreed about Stannis not being a good candidate nor leader, and the other possible candidates hadn't half the popularity that Renly had gained. Margaery thought about it: talking with him could be very useful and give her some political insight about the Baratheon's party.

"Of course I do, you'll be its next leader, will you not?" She asked. He had the expected reaction and looked at her with unapologetic pride.

"Seems likely, yes. But let's not talk about politics, I'm afraid they'll bore you to death," he joked. She felt slightly disappointed at his unwillingness to talk about it, but also found it normal. Maybe some more time with him would make him more comfortable with the matter. "Let me buy you a drink, sweetie." They went to the barman and Margaery ordered a cosmopolitan. She didn't like that he bought it for her, as she felt somewhat in debt, but he did look like the type of guy whose pride didn't let you pay for those little things. "Do you want to dance?" he asked.

There was no reason to reject him, so she accepted. They danced for a while: he was a good dancer, graceful and fast, and dancing with him reminded Margaery of dancing with Alyce. She was happy to have found him: he was kind, but not as bubbly as Meredyth and Megga, and she didn't find she had to put up a happy talk for him. Smiling was enough.

She also was grateful for the distance he so valued to keep with her while they danced: they had tried to dance closely at the beginning, but as with all the boys that Margaery had tried doing that before, it ended up being very awkward, this time even for him. She supposed it had something to do with the height difference.  But once they got some space, dancing with him was comfortable. They danced to good and bad songs, smiling to each other all the while.

"I hope I'm a good dancer." He said to her.

"You are." She answered, still smiling. She had her mind in another place. She still hadn't decided If she was going over to Megga or Meredyth's home that night. Probably it would be Megga's. Meredyth seemed to want to bring a boy to hers that night, and If she succeeded the last thing she wanted was to be there to hear it all.

"You're a sweet one, did you know that?"

"Oh, If we're talking about sweetness, I think you're the sweetest here." He winked at her, satisfied with himself, grabbed her from the waist and made her swirl. She wore a yellow dress with a skirt that fluttered around her, fluorescent in the club's darkness.

They giggled, and Margaery found herself wishing to spend all the night dancing with him.

But two hours later she had to go. Meredyth came to tell her that she wanted to go to another club, and she preferred to go with her and Megga. After all, Renly was still a stranger for her.

"I hate to ruin your fun, I really do." Meredyth apologized, looking back and forth to Margs and Renly while she tried to not be crushed by the couples that danced near them. "But it's getting really claustrophobic in here, and I just can't stand it."

"Okay, no problem." Margaery answered. "It looks like we're going to go. It was a pleasure to meet you, Renly." She said to him.

"Hold on a second. Do you have a phone?" They ended up exchanging numbers, and when they were about to say goodbye, they looked at each other with doubt in their eyes. A second later, they approached their faces and kissed. It was a weird kiss - their lips were still and there was no tongue there, but it lasted too long to be called a peck. Margaery found herself baffled at her own reaction: it was... Weird.

"Goodbye!" She said as Meredyth dragged her out. She saw him moving his mouth, but couldn't hear him over the noise.

As she was carried out of the club, she put a finger over her lips. She had been kissed. It wasn't like it was the first time, but she also had expectations she didn't have for the other times it happened. She expected to feel hungry for more, to feel desire, _something_ , sparkling inside her, but she felt rather empty. _I really kissed him?_  She wondered. _I did, didn't I?_

"Congrats on the boy, Margaery" Said Meredyth before she drank from a bottle of water. She didn't seem very enthusiastic, however, and seemed to have her mind in another place. Megga was another story.

"Wohoo, boy? What happened, Margs?" She asked, eyes shining with interest.

"I met Renly Baratheon there, we kind of liked each other and, well..." She smiled, feeling proud of herself, as If she had won a big prize in some competition. She thrived in the feeling of a win, and, albeit a little one, this was one for her. _It's Renly Baratheon, for the love of god_ she praised herself. "... I gave him my number." Megga whistled with admiration.

"So you and him will be doing little Tyrells in no time, I guess." Margaery laughed.

"Oh, come on, we're just getting to know each other."

"If you catch my drift." Meredyth winked, mimicking Margaery's voice.

***

She didn't feel so proud of herself now. Sansa _knew_. And for some reason, she didn't want her to. It was weird, because she hadn't thought about it until now, simply assumed that she would know If she became something serious with Renly. But now somehow it hurt her. _What will she think of me?_ She thought, and felt herself go red, as If she had found herself guilty of something.

She put a strand of hair behind her ear, swallowed and smiled. Elinor was coming over in twenty minutes, along with her grandmother, Olenna. She had to be ready. Besides, Renly had texted her, asking to go on a date tomorrow.

She went to the closet to pick decent clothes for the visit. As she examined every dress in the hangers, she wondered about Sansa again. _She's a naïve girl; she probably won’t understand it. Renly and I can support each other. Besides, he's handsome, I like him. I enjoyed dancing with him, and that has to count for something._

She didn't feel like wearing any dress today. In fact, she just wanted to wear sweat pants and an old t-shirt, go back to bed and eat ice cream with chocolate cereals. But alas, she couldn’t receive her family while laying lazily on bed. She settled for a green dress with four thread-thin straps, a low waist and a flower-like pattern in the hem.

"Margaery?" Asker her mother though the door. "Your grandmother is here. Are you ready?"

"Yes, mother." She said as she opened the door, a smile on her face. She went downstairs, to the living room to greet Elinor and Olenna. Elinor was smoking by the window, wearing jeans and a blouse that, although very casual-looking, must have cost her a fortune. She had messed with her hair again, Margaery could see that: now she had it dyed Californian style, with the tips blonde and the rest of a degraded chestnut color. She wore it in a low ponytail, frizzy strands of it getting loosened which she was constantly fidgeting with when she didn't have her hands busy trying to shake the ash of the cigarette. She did it wrong, she always did, and ended up getting half of the ashes inside the room even when she smoked facing the window. Her droopy eyes found Margaery's just as she crushed the remaining cigarette to the windowsill. Margaery hated that vice she had.

"Hello, Margs!" She greeted, going to give her two pats in the shoulder. "Looking good today, huh?" she eyed her from head to toe.

"As you do." Margaery said, winking at her.

"Oh, really? Grandma said that I look like a pretentious asshole." Elinor whispered, a half-grin on her lips.

"I can hear you, Elinor. If you think that's being discreet, then I thank the gods that you have not half the ambition that Margaery has got."

"Oh, I was just fooling around." The alluded said as she collapsed on the couch. Olenna nodded.

"And you **do** look like a pretentious asshole, girl. I don't even know what profit brings you to buy clothes that look like this when they cost you so much. You think that those "friends" of yours will stop asking you for money If you pretend you're not like the rest of the Tyrells or what?" Although her tone was stern, Margaery could see how her grandmother's eyes showed concern towards her cousin.

What she had said was the worst kept secret among the Tyrells: Elinor had been a difficulty for the family since she had hit adolescence. If Robert was the thorn in the side of the Baratheon family, Elinor was the Tyrell’s. She was a curious girl, always the first to do and try everything, and that wasn’t a very good trait to have in a family of politicians. It ended up bringing her all kinds of problems and a certain reputation of black sheep, and she ended up ressenting it all when she had found herself alone. Her bad reputation among the family and her school continued very much alive today, even when during the last two years she had been pretty quiet. And now she had nobody but bought friends, Olenna and Margaery. Margaery saw how her cousin’s willfulness slowly, painfully faded, and sometimes she felt the urge to tell her that she thought she was strong in a way she wished she could be. But she was Mace Tyrell’s daughter; Elinor’s way of thinking wasn’t something she was expected to admire.

Elinor just turned red as she reached for another cigarette. "It's not like that." she protested. "And anyway, we're not here for this."

"True." Olenna sighed. She went to kiss Margaery's cheeks, and then she grabbed her shoulders gently. "Megga told me about Renly, dear."

Margaery didn’t say anything. Her grandmother obviously wanted to get somewhere with that.

“How do you feel about him?” She asked.

“I like him. I mean, he’s kind, and very funny. I think we could be… Something.” Margaery sensed she said something wrong when her grandmother’s brow furrowed.

“He treats you well?” She asked solemnly.

“Yes, don’t worry about that.” Margaery smiled; she felt it was the most doubtless statement she had said since they started the conversation.

“I’m happy, then.” Said Olenna “But Margaery, remember that you’re a Tyrell, but don’t forget all the other things you are because of that.” Margaery’s mouth opened as If she was going to say something, but she closed it again before saying whatever she thought. Elinor put an arm over her shoulder then.

“I think your mother said that lunch was already set. I’m _dying_ just to eat something. Aren’t you hungry, Margs?”

“Of course.” She answered before looking at her grandmother again. But Olenna was already going to the dining room, and surely she didn’t want to discuss about Renly again.

Margaery felt somewhat confused over her grandmother’s reaction. She thought she was going to be proud of her, but instead, she seemed worried.

“I’m glad we’re over with the talk about politics so early.” Elinor said, watching Margaery’s expression like a hawk.

“Talking about Renly is not just talking about politics. He’s my boyfriend, you know.”

“A moment ago you just liked him and now you’re so in love with him that he’s your boyfriend? Please, say that you’re not getting magically pregnant in half an hour.”

“Oh, you’re so mean!” laughed Margaery.

“I know.” Elinor said smiling, before letting Margaery go and following their grandmother.

***

“Are you ready, Sansa?” Asked Arya, going into her room without knocking. Sansa, still in her underwear, covered herself with the dress she was holding over her body.

“Arya!” She exclaimed “I’m still deciding.” Her little sister rolled her eyes, and Sansa glared at her. “Hey, clothes are important. Look at this one, what do you think?” she asked. The dress she had was lilac, its central piece made of chiffon, with a skirt that reached her knees, and the sleeves of tulle.

“You’ll be drop dead gorgerous with this, but maybe it’s too formal to go to a bar? I don’t know. Well, it’s a good bar, but still.”

“Do you think it will look like I’m trying too hard?” Asked Sansa, looking again at her dresser’s mirror. She realized that Arya was the worst person to ask that, but it wasn’t like Robb or Bran had any clue either. _If Margaery was here…_ But Margaery was not there. And she still had to talk with her about their discussion before going to ask her casually about dresses.

Arya just shrugged “Well, I wouldn’t wear that. But I guess that people will just think about how pretty you are, so it’s alright, I think.” Sansa smiled and kissed Arya’s cheek.

“Thank you.” She said. “Now get out, please.”

She put on the dress, went to the front door and waited for Robb to get ready.

“Oh, you’re ready already, Sansa?” Asked her mother. She had the car keys in one of her pockets, Sansa could tell.

“I thought that Robb was the one that was driving me there…?”

“He’ll be coming along, but I’ll be the one driving. I still don’t trust Robb with the car, and besides, I want to see that bar you’re going to, miss.” Sansa felt her cheeks go red, but also kind of happy. She found tender that her mother and older brother were so worried for her. Even Bran had wished her good luck. Surely If her father was there, he also would ask her to send a message If something happened and give her a hug.

Robb arrived with Arya at her side, and they all went to the car. The trip went well until they arrived to the street where the bar was.

“Wait… How did you say that the bar was called?” Asked Catelyn at Sansa. She shrugged and looked at Arya, who was texting her friend.

“Ehm… Well,” Arya said when she finished. She smiled widely, like she was about to tell a good joke “You see that one? That’s the bar.” She pointed to a bar that had a pretty façade. It seemed elegant and clean enough, and Sansa was sure she could like it, except for one little problem…

“Cunt’s Landing?” She read, incredulous, mouth dropped open. Yeah, the sign definetly had that written, with violet lights circling it for good measure. “Arya, you could have said that to me before, couldn’t you?” she asked, feeling herself die of shame. Her mother was there, after all, and right then was looking at them, brow furrowed.

“Sansa, dear, what kind of bar is that?” her tone of voice said it all: problems were coming.

“I swear the girls there are super respectful and don’t go all… Eeeeh… Landing on the first girl they meet.” Arya jumped “Or at least, that’s what Mya told me. Please, mum…” Arya said, trying very hard not to laugh. _Oh yes, very funny_ , Sansa thought, angry. Her sister, as always, so tactful and dainty.

She looked at Robb in search of some help, but he was bent over the golve box, shaking from silent racks of laughter. Her mother eyed him critically.

“Well, Mya’s waiting for you, here’s her number.” Said Arya, giving it to her. Sansa looked at her mother once more.

“If you don’t like this place, call me and I’ll pick you up in no time.” Assured Catelyn.

“Go have fun, Sansa” Said Robb, looking at her with tears from laughter.

“I will.” She said, before going out of the car resolutely. _Cunt’s Landing… Seriously?_ She didn’t like the name in the least. She tried to forget it with all her might while she texted Mya. She saw her near the front door, a girl of short hair and blue eyes.

“Hello!” She greeted upon seeing Sansa. “You’re Arya’s sister, right?”

“Yes, Sansa Stark. You’re Mya…?”

“Mya Stone, nice to meet you.” She said cheerfully. Sansa smiled, comfortable. She seemed like a good girl. “Uhm, Mya… How is the bar?” She asked shyly.

“It’s a nice place, don’t worry about that. Did the name put you off?” She laughed when Sansa nodded. “It happens a lot, and there are plenty of people that don’t come here because of that. If only the name was changed…”

“Yeah, couldn’t it be something more… Subtle?”

“Yes, but the boss of the place insists on keeping it like it is, says that it helps to drive the point home. Anyway, let’s get inside, I’ll show you around.” She liked the bar: the counter was round, made of black wood and with red seats around it. Behind it were a couple of shelves full of colorful bottles. There was a wide upper floor with some tables in case the counter was full, and in the walls were hanged some retro paintings. The entire bar was lightened with dim, warm lights that gave the place an aura of comfortableness. It was nice enough.

It was fairly full that day, Mya said that it used to get like this during Saturdays, but even then the place wasn’t crowded to the brim. Sansa was surprised at the variety of women that were there: some were exactly what she expected, tomboys like her sister Arya, but the vast majority was so different from each other than she could hardly pinpoint them in any groups. It was refreshing, but at the same time kind of scary. She specially had her eyes in a woman that was smoking against the counter in a cocktail dress, her hair tied back, and a girl of braided black hair that was flirting with _two_ girls at once, so look-alike they surely were twins. She was talking to them with a sweet, inviting voice, and the two women were laughing and touching her now and then, sometimes lingering too much on her shoulder or her knee. Sansa wasn’t naïve enough to not have heard about threesomes, but even then she blushed upon seeing that and looked to another place.

“Oh, that’s Nymeria and the Fowler twins, Jeyne and Jennelyn. They’re regulars here and are quite nice.” Mya said, having followed her gaze.

“Yes, they seem so.” She wanted to ask her If they were together, the three of them, but she feared coming across as rude. Just when they were about to order their drinks, Mya’s phone ringed.

“Oh, sorry.” Mya looked at the screen “It’s my boss. I’ll be back right now, order now If you want, don’t worry.” She said, going out of the bar in no time. Sansa saw her crossing the front door, the phone already at her ear. She seemed strangely calm, even when it was her boss calling her.

Sansa took a seat near the counter and left her feet dangle above the floor. She felt like a child there, like a misfit. She was sure she could get used to it with some time; she expected she would, but right now she preferred to be at Mya’s side rather than all alone there. Ordering a drink would be the best option now, instead of being just awkwardly seated there. The problem was that she didn’t know what she was supposed to order. Between two shelves of bottles was a slate board with some drinks and their prices written down, but they said nothing about what every drink contained. Of course, she could always ask, but she felt it would make her look childish. She thanked her height already for giving away the false impression she was older, and she didn’t want to ruin it with inexpert questions. She finally settled for Long island iced tea. It sounded well, and reconozing the word ‘tea’ somehow comforted her.

“You’re sure you want that?” Asked the bartender, eyebrows raised. Sansa stood straighter.

“Yes, please.” She hoped she sounded like an eighteen year old woman instead of a brat of fifteen, whose first experience with alcohol happened a few nights ago. The bartender went to do the ‘Tea’, mixing a lot of drinks in the process. Sansa saw this and swallowed. _What kind of drink did I order?_ She asked herself. Finally, she had it in front of her. It looked like iced tea to her.

“Remember to drink slowly.” Advised the bartender. Sansa smiled at her.

“Of course.” She said, and proceeded to give it the first gulp. It was refreshing and perfectly fine the first seconds, until the flavour of strong, mixed alcohols made its presence. Then she just stopped drinking and tried hard to not look like she was having a cough attack.

She looked around her to give a better impression of being all calm and collected. Unfortunately, the sight of Nymeria, Jeyne and Jennelyn fooling around, **kissing passionately** , wasn’t the best to keep her calm. She felt herself go red to her roots and turned her gaze violently towards her drink again. _Gods, why is Mya taking so long?_

“It’s the first time you drink this?” Asked someone over her shoulder. Her tone seemed to be slightly mocking. Sansa felt herself shudder as she turned around; Behind her was probably the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. She looked somewhat annoyed, like she was displeased with everything, and Sansa felt a little intimidated by that. But even then, she was so beautiful.

 _She’s like a princess_ , Sansa though with awe, _or maybe a queen_. Her mane of blond hair reached her waist, and her eyes were bright, green and pretty. She had high cheekbones, red-painted lips and a slender figure covered by a red dress. She probably was in university, judging by her looks. The woman smiled at her sarcastically and titled her head, arms crossed over her chest.

“Cat got your tongue?” Sansa felt like an idiot and bowed down her head.

“O-of course not.” She stuttered to answer. The woman looked at her from head to toe in a way that made Sansa feel judged. Then, her smile seemed to soften and she took a seat at her side, high heels clicking against the tiles as she did so.

“I’ll have the same drink as her.” She ordered to the bartender before turning to Sansa again. “Tell me, what’s your name?” she asked calmly.

“Sansa.” She answered, relieved that the woman seemed to have calmed. “And yours?”

The woman took a sip of her drink before answering.

“I’m Cersei.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DRAMA ENSUES PEOPLE. Hope you liked this. And don’t worry, Margaery and Sansa will talk soon about their fight.


	4. Shampain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cersei and Sansa get to know each other better, Margaery has a dull date and can't stop thinking about Sansa.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, University had me very busy. And as always, I hope you enjoy the chapter :)

_Just a little bit of fun_ , Cersei promised herself before stepping inside the bar. _Just a little bit of fun, and maybe some fuck_.

It wasn't like today could get worst, after all.

***

The stupid remedial exam, for starters. She had failed at it again. Half of the empty last weeks of class studying to pass it, weeks of summer waiting to have the results, and the only thing she got was half of the exam marked in red, a fucking red sea, and the cryptic look Varys gave her while handing it and saying calmly "I hope you enjoy the rest of the summer". Nothing better than failing Economics to have a great holiday.

When she went to her flat she was glad to find Taena already there. She explained everything to her, cried a little, took a bottle of beer and listened to the radio, the myrish girl curled at her side in the sofa with a glass of lemonade in one hand. At one point, she can't remember If it was between a song of OneRepublic or one of Florence + The machine, they started to make out, the soft and dark lips of Taena pressing against hers passionately. At first she let her take the lead purely because she needed to feel it, needed someone willing to take her fiercely, to want her so bad like Taena showed she wanted her. But as her hands started to disrobe her, miniskirt going to the ground, she decided it was time to change roles and flipped the other girl under her, biting her lip and tucking her hand under her shirt, caressing her big breasts over her bra. She straddled her, the feeling of Taena's wide hips under her thighs making her ache with need, and grinded against her while she bit her ear. Soft never was something Cersei aimed to be, and the gasps of pain and pleasure of Taena were nothing new to her ears, but she always liked them as much as the first day.

"If you don't move, we'll end up fucking on the sofa," Taena gasped. Cersei tsked, teeth gritted, and got up, taking off her shirt and her bra as she made her way to their room. She knew that Taena hated doing it there, couldn't stand the possibility to make a mess that could be noticed by her acquaintances or friends. Cersei had none, so she didn't care in the least.

***

"I'm going to Myr." breathed Taena, arms and legs sprawled on the bed after they had sex. "I need to get away from this place for a while." Cersei had feared the day this would come, and it was finally there.

It wasn't like they were something, or like they loved each other. They just loved _fucking_ each other, mind you, but anyway it sucked that she had to go. Who would listen to her like Taena did? Who would party and get drunk with her and fuck her after in the back of her car? She was her only friend now, and the only person she could stand.

"Don't go." She found herself saying, straddling her with her cigarette still in hand. "I'm surrounded by idiots here. You're the only person that isn't completely retarded or nuts." Taena laughed.

"You're too hard on them, Cers. They're only university students."

"That doesn't excuse how worthless they are." the myrish girl looked at her, an eyebrow raised, and Cersei knew what she was thinking. _You're just furious because you once ruled them all, because you were the cool girl in high school and now you have fallen from the top_. They had had this conversation a thousand times, and she didn't need to hear it again, so she went to pick her clothes in prideful silence. Taena got up, still naked, arms crossed over her chest and eyes fixed on Cersei.

"Ce, you know I need a break."

"From what?" She asked, annoyed.

"From... Everything."

"From me, also?" Taena smiled then, hugging Cersei from behind, her breath against her ear and her firm breasts against her back.

"You know that's not true. I like this." But even her seductive voice didn't entirely convince Cersei this time, who pushed her aside with an ungraceful shove. _Trying to pull your 'seduction' card again, aren't you, bitch?_ she thought. If the myrish girl thought that she could sweet-talk her into something just because she was the only friend that Cersei had, just because they fucked, she was an idiot. She was Cersei Lannister, mind you. Taena lost balance for a moment before looking at her surprised. After a moment, she too got dressed before going towards the door. "If you stop being so angry someday, text me." She said, resigned, and went out. If it were anyone else, Cersei would have retorted a 'You better get a seat while you wait' or a less elaborated 'Fuck you', but even now she couldn't get that mad at Taena. She knew too well how to handle her, how to answer at certain things until Cersei herself felt less furious, and even sometimes forgot what made her be in the first place.

So she just rolled another cigarette, finished the one she still had and smoked the new one. The room smelled so much like vagina, alcohol, smoke and sex that she had to open the window. It wasn't like the smell annoyed her, but If Taena was going, that meant that she would have to sell that damned flat in which they were staying, and those smells didn't exactly scream "buy me". They did scream "messy flat in which dirty things went on", and unless she was selling it to horny students, which she wasn't going to do, it wouldn't help at all.

***

She hadn't showered after being with Taena, but she didn't mind. _At home I can take a shower_ , she thought while she drove. She felt sick in that moment, how could the girl leave her like that? Her only friend. The only one worthy of her trust, and this is how she repaid it. She wanted to slap, to punch, to break something.

Everything around her was falling apart. Shit, and now she would have to live again under the same roof as her little brother. Her disgusting little brother, that would remind her everyday with his disgusting smile of superiority how he was doing better at uni than her. Fantastic, just fantastic. She felt the urge to bite her nails, all painted in crimson, but she thought better of it and just stopped a moment to smoke some more, feeling her body relax with each inhalation. It did nicely to keep her calm, but not _enough_.

'You'll end up alone.' Why'd she have to remember those words now? 'If you keep up like this, there's a moment in which even Jaime will start to avoid you.' She bit her lip. The worst part was that it ended up being true: he already did since he went to study overseas.

But what was so bad about her? She just wanted to enjoy herself a little.

She went to park in the Lannister's mansion parking, but she remembered how she had lost the keys. Or, more exactly, left them at the house after a heated discussion with her father, and never went to pick them again. All that shit just made her more angry.

Luckily, she still had the one of the front gate. As she walked inside the front garden, all perfectly cut plants and a fountain of stone lions, she knew she had missed this. It felt _grand_ , like home, like a place she deserved to be in, one that smelled infinitely better than her flat of student.

She entered to meet perfect stillness.

"I'm home." She announced, hoping someone would come upon hearing her "Jaime? Father?" She shouted. The place was big, after all. She hoped her twin decided to return home after his year of studying overseas was over, but she didn't know. They hadn't talked for a long while, after all.

What did she have now? Even Taena was going out of her life.

 _Well_ , she thought, resisting the urge to smoke again, _I'm home now_.

She decided to go to the bathroom to take a much needed shower when she heard it: gasps, the shift of sheets and the sounds of a rhythm she knew all too well. And they came from her father's room. That shocked her: her mother was dead, and her father, he didn't... Never... No, he wasn't the type of man to do that. Surely it was Tyrion, fucking in someone else's room with a whore and being a pervert. So she went towards the door and said "Tyrion, is that you?" in a mocking tone.

The sounds stopped. "Father will kill you for fucking in his room." she continued, shouting louder "I'm telling him." A shift in the sheets again, and she went to grab the handle of the door.

"Cersei..." She stopped, then, shocked. It was her father's voice, but at the same time, it was not. It had something weak, mushy in it, even If it sounded as stern as always. It sounded like a voice that just had sex, and it was truly repulsive. "Daughter, I can explain this." He insisted. But she wanted to hear no more, so she ran towards the doors, went to her car and drove to the flat like she was running away from hell.

Once in it, in her now lonely flat, she closed the windows, served herself a strawberry daikiri and rolled another cigarrete. She wasn't selling the flat, after all.

How could he? Cersei didn't want to know who he was fucking with, even If it was a potential step-mother. She didn't need someone new in her family and her life, not now nor never, besides, she preferred to live thinking that her father was still faithful to her mother. But now she knew he wasn't. A part of her wanted to think that it was all a misunderstanding, and another simply wanted to forget about it, as If it never happened. She decided to go with the second, but even then, she wasn't going back home.

She took a shower, decided that the world could go to screw itself for a while, turned off her phone, put on her favorite red dress and went to that bar Taena talked her about.

***

That girl, Sansa, was really pretty. Innocent-looking, like a little bird with big, afraid blue eyes. She was still young, and as they talked, sipping their drinks until Sansa's voice almost slurred, Cersei realized that she was full of broken dreams. Broken, but not bitter, at least yet.

A part of her wanted to change that.

Sansa Stark looked, smiled, breathed and smelled too much like innocence, like a good girl that still put on strawberry perfume, drank orange juice, never, ever smoked and still gave goodnight kisses to mom and dad.

She was like a glass filled to the brim, just about to spill. Cersei wanted, _needed_ to knock it, or to be the drop that made her crash. It felt just as necessary as breathing, an exercise to lash out all her own bitterness on someone else.

She, after all, needed a purpose, and corrupting Sansa would do nicely as one.

***

The Stark girl, for her part, felt comfortable with Cersei. She listened to her with such a sweet smile, that, along with the alcohol, disarmed her. It looked like she understood her, like she could be her friend. Something about her made her wary, though, but maybe she was imagining things. She seemed so nice, after all, and was also so beautiful, that she couldn't be creepy at all.

"Sorry for taking so long." Mya greeted, taking a seat at their side. She smiled to Cersei. "Oh, so you already made a friend, Sansa?"

Cersei smiled back and answered for her.

"Well, she's charming like that. Are you her girlfriend?" She asked. Mya laughed, carelessly.

"No, I'm just a friend of her sister. I'm introducing her to the bars of the city. Are you a regular here? I don't think I have seen you before."

"It's my first time here, a friend talked to me about it." Cersei took a long sip of Long Island. "It's quite lively for what I expected."

"Yeah, well, still less lively than I would like." Mya laughed. They were a curious duo, the two of them. Cersei spoke without fear, very confident in herself, and Mya did the same, but with a merriment that Cersei lacked. But of course, Mya didn't look nearly as regal as Cersei did, Sansa thought. She felt a little left aside as the conversation went on and she didn't have an opportunity to intervene, but she also found it logical. After all, what could she say? Cersei was saying everything Sansa thought, so...

She doesn't remember much about what came after. Mya introduced her to some friends and she tried to keep her composure, basically. She felt a little like floating: everything was beautiful and she laughed more than she should, even at things that weren't funny at all. She also wanted to kiss everyone, to smooch them full on the lips and run her hands though their long manes of hair, and when Cersei looked at her straight in the eye and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, it took some self-control not to do so. They all talked until she felt suffocated and went out to take some fresh air. Cersei accompanied her, of course.

"What a pretty night, right?" Sansa said, still drunk and nervous.

"Yes, I'm glad I came here." Cersei was smiling again, her face dark in contraposition with the light of the streetlamps.

"Me too. I mean, I got to know all of you and..." She felt something going up her throat, racks of uneasiness and cold sweat running through her body. "... I think I'm gonna puke." She managed to say. Cersei looked at her, an "Oh, dear." escaping from her lips, and helped her make her way towards a lonely alley.

"You have very pretty hair. It would be a shame If you puked all over it." Sansa couldn't agree more, although she felt shameful for it all. Cersei was going to see her puke, for the love of god. The sole thought made her go red to her roots and her stomach twist. She tried to retort, to tell her not to look, but she was dizzy and surely made no sense.

She felt one of her hands on her hair, pulling a little too tight, and another flexing her waist while she convulsed. She felt as weak as a rag doll, and when she puked, she thanked mentally that Cersei was holding her, because her legs would surely have given up in that moment If it weren't for her.

For some reason, she cried - Cersei said it was normal, that she didn't need to be ashamed - and as soon as she dried her tears, her mouth and felt some strength come back, she tried to get away from the mess.

"Careful there, you're going to trip." Cersei held her waist again, so she wouldn't fall. _She's so nice_ , was all Sansa could think. She looked like a mess herself, her hair disheveled, eyes red and lipstick half smeared. They went inside the bar again, but Sansa wasn't feeling so well now: her mouth had the horrible aftertaste of vomit, and her stomach wasn't much better. She just wanted to fall into her bed and sleep. She wanted to go home and told Mya about it, who looked at her worried.

"You look terrible, Sansa." She replied "you sure you'll be alright on your own?"

"I can help her." Offered Cersei, and looked to Sansa, her disarming smile again in her lips. "You won't be alone, don't worry." Of course, she agreed. Mya said she could text Arya If she wanted, but she refused. Her little sister would be sleeping now.

She let Cersei carry her by the waist with soft pushes until they reached her car. Sansa wasn't an expert on cars, but even she could tell that it was an expensive one.

"I would invite you to come over to my flat to take a drink, but you're completely wasted, aren't you?" Cersei said. Sansa nodded, she felt that If she took another drink, she was going to pass out. "You have to drink slowly the first times." Cersei laughed and kissed her forehead, her hand still in Sansa's waist. "You will come another day." She decided.

Sansa just let herself fall like a sack of potatoes in the back of her car. It smelled a little like sweat, but she didn't mind. She just leaned her head against the seat, closed her eyes and tried to feel better.

Cersei asked where she lived and she managed to answer right, mumbling with tiredness. She started to ask more after that, her phone number, things about her life, her family... Things she forgot as soon as she answered.

***

The morning after, she woke up in her bed, hair all over her face and her dress and bra carefully left in her dresser's chair. _What?_ was her first thought. She felt tired, like her bones were as heavy as stone, and her legs wobbled when she tried to get up. Her mouth was dry, terribly dry, and she felt her head throb painfully. Also, who had undressed her?

"Good afternoon." Arya greeted at the doorstep, a bowl of cereals and a glass of water in her hands. "Mya texted me last night, and well... I figured you would need this."

"Arya..." She managed to say before going to grab the glass of water and giving it a good gulp. She finished it in no time, grabbed the cereals and went to bed to eat them. She didn't even think in the fact that she was half-naked: she felt so dizzy... "Maybe I'm still drunk." she muttered while eating.

"Welcome to the awesome world of hangovers, sis." Arya said, seating at her side. "I managed to make mother believe that you're alright and didn't come home smelling like whisky and vomit and with your panties on your head."

"I didn't drank whisky, I drank... Long Tea something, I think. And wait, what?! When... Panties? What are you talking about?" Arya smiled.

"Just joking, your panties where in where they belonged. But you did come with an older girl... You did find someone, huh?"

"Oh, Cersei... She's just a friend, Arya." Sansa answered. "And she didn't come in, right? I mean..." She looked at her half-naked body again, ashamed, covering her breast with her arms. "I didn't let her do something weird, did I?"

"Don't worry about that, she left as soon as I came to help you. I undressed you myself, not her." Sansa sighed, relieved. "And If I were you I would take a shower before mum discovers I lied and kills us both."

"Later." Sansa protested, covering herself with the sheets again and determined to take another nap.

***

Margaery was thinking that theirs could qualify as the most awkward date ever. It surprised her to discover that Renly wasn't so sure of himself now. He still was kind and charming, sure, but he got strangely nervous when they did as little as hold hands. _Maybe he's not used to having girls around_ , thought Margaery, _which is weird, given that he's beautiful enough_. She herself was used to the company of all her brothers, and she still held hands and gave kisses to Loras, so maybe it wasn't that weird to be nervous like that If you only had siblings of your same sex.

They went to have some ice-cream at a little shop near Margaery's house, the façade all in pastel blue tones with some steaks of golden here and there. She was fond of that place, although she hadn't been there for some time now: After Roseroad's, that was Sansa's favorite place when they were kids and summer heat hit too hard to eat lemoncakes.

They used to put their hands on the crystal of the display window all the time, letting it full of little finger marks, and Sansa's mother usually told them to be quiet, but without getting angry or anything. It was a weird thing for Sansa not to ask for something lemon-flavored, although she liked stracciatella well enough, and sometimes she asked for one of the new, weird-flavored ice creams like those of doughnut or popcorn. Margaery herself usually stuck more to hazelnut, raspberry and violet. One day, she remembered, Sansa dropped her ice-cream after going out the shop and started to cry. She cried so loud, that Margaery ended up saying 'We can share mine', although she wanted nothing more than to have it all for herself. Sansa smiled though the tears, then, just like Margaery still smiled despite herself when she remembered that.

Maybe it was a little corny, but those were good days. Now, she knew she had to talk to Sansa to fix everything. Maybe they had some differences, and maybe they hadn't talked about them in the best way, but they still could be friends, couldn't they?

Besides, it hurt to think that she had left Sansa feeling wounded and rejected. They were childhood friends, and...

"Are you listening?" Asked Renly, an eyebrow raised.

"Sorry, I wasn't. This place made me remember some things." Renly looked at her, like he wanted to hear about it, but she didn't want to tell. To his ears, it would sound ridiculous. Almost all of childhood memories did for strangers. "So what were you saying?"

"We could go to your house, isn't it near here?"

"Of course." Margaery smiled. "No problem. Besides my brother will come soon, I bet you'll get along great." Renly didn't look that excited to hear that.

They made the way towards it in silence. When Renly saw the interior, he was quick to praise the good taste they had in decoration.

"You should see my brother's home. He has no taste at all, and it smells like vodka everywhere. I wish he would use as much alcohol as he drinks in disinfecting it." He jested. _Doesn't he have servants?_ Thought Margaery. But then remembered some of the scandals and decided to not talk about it. They went to have a drink at the kitchen when they heard the door slam.

"Margaery?" Loras asked from the hallway. "We won the match, sis!" He screamed at the top of his lugs, almost panting. Margaery squealed in excitement.

"Really?" She said, going to give him a hug. He was sweaty, but she didn't mind in the least. "I'm so glad, Loras! Did mum record it like she promised? I bet you made them bite the dust!"

"You bet, Margs, I always do." He said, winking and giving her a high-five. Then he saw Renly go out from the kitchen and he froze. "Oh..." He muttered, turning red. "I didn't remember that you would be bringing him... I mean, I'm not interrupting something, am I?"

"Of course not, sweet brother." Assured Margaery, kissing him in the cheek and taking his arm, leading him to the kitchen. "Loras, this is Renly. Renly, Loras. We were about to have a drink, and surely you're thirsty after the match."

"Yeah." Answered Loras, baffled. He took a glass and filled it with coke. "So you're Renly Baratheon, aren't you? I've heard a lot about you."

"Yes. Same here, Margaery talks a lot about you."

"Of course I do, Loras is a brother to be proud of." She answered, patting his brother in the shoulder.

"It sounds like it. You're the star of the local basketball team, are you not? The Knights of the Reach. You guys seem promising."

"And you still haven't seen how we did at the last match." Loras said, smiling proudly. He titled his head in that way he always did when he was excited and nervous, and Margaery decided to let them know each other a bit while she went to check her phone.

Sansa still hadn't messaged. She knew the situation was awkward, and that they both spoke driven by the heat of the moment, but she missed her friend. _Even If we don't always understand each other, surely we can make up_ , she thought. How could she start? 'Look, Sansa, I'm sorry about what happened the other day. Maybe I came across as a moron, but I'm just worried about you. I know what it is to feel bad about things, but we're very young and as my grandmother said, life goes on, doesn't it?' ... No, that was lame. She didn't really want to talk about that, not now, at least. But she wanted to know about Sansa, just know how she was doing, how she felt...

She swallowed.

"Hey, Sansa?" She texted. Maybe she didn't want to talk with her, but she had to try...

After a couple of minutes, she returned to the kitchen. Loras and Renly's laughter stopped then, the two weirdly ashamed.

"Oh, sister." Said Loras. "How was... Whatever you were off doing?"

"Am I interrupting something?" Joked Margaery.

"Boy's talk, you know." Renly answered.

The rest of the evening Margaery, Renly and Loras talked about his match, mostly. Margaery doesn't exactly remember, as she was spacing out all the time.

***

Sansa woke up feeling considerably better than a couple of hours before.

"Arya?" She said with a sleepy voice. "What time is... Oh my god, have I overslept this long?"

"Yes." Answered her mother, coming to her room followed by Arya, who looked somewhat guilty. "Why did you two lie to me, Sansa?" She sighed. "Your dress stank of alcohol and smoke. I think you owe me an explanation, don't you?"

"Well, mom..." Sansa laughed nervously, looking at Arya. She just looked back at her with eyes that said 'Sorry, I didn't think about that.' "You see, I had some drinks, just to try, and I was with this girl that smoked and..."

"Wait, girl? Explain yourself." Asked Catelyn. Arya took advantage of that to disappear to her own room. Sansa did have to tell her all about how the night went, defeated. After she had explained it, her mother remained in silence for a couple of minutes.

"Look, Sansa." She said, her voice soft. "I know how hard it is to fit in when you're young and are different. But don't let this make you do stupid things. You drank until you puked and let an unknown woman ride you home. She seemed to be a decent person and didn't harm you in any way, but what If she hadn't been? I may sound boring with the 'be careful' talk, but sometimes one isn't careful until something happens to them. Besides, after what happened with my sister and Petyr..." She seemed to tense, still uneasy with all the situation. "She still doesn't talk to me since then. She's not a bad person, but she's fragile enough to let bad persons like Petyr have influence over her." Sansa lowered her head, sad and ashamed. "Well, I want you to be careful, okay?" Said Catelyn, smiling.

"Mom, do you think it was my fault?" She whispered, eyes downcast. Her mother's smile vanished, and she hugged her daughter tight.

"Oh, Sansa, of course not. Don't ever think that."

"But aunt Lysa says..."

"Aunt Lysa doesn't matter, sweetheart. The only thing that matters is that you are okay." Catelyn muttered, her voice trembling. _It wasn't dangerous_ , Sansa wanted to remind her, to try to calm her again. But even then, it surely was painful for her mother to think about what _could_ have happened at that time.

***

After her mother left, Sansa listened to music for a while. She felt a little sensitive after talking about Winterfell, like she could start to cry at any second then. _I almost told Margaery, but now I'm almost grateful that I didn't. I still get like this when I talk about it with mom, and she supports me. How would I have gotten If I told Margaery about it? And how bad I would have felt with myself If she thought it was my fault?_ After their fight, she couldn't shake off the feeling that she didn't knew Margaery as well as she thought. Talking about certain things with her could be like stepping in a mine field, for all that she knew. An emotional one, but still.

It was then that she grabbed her phone and saw her message.

"Hey, Sansa?" She hesitated for a moment. After all that had happened, what should she answer?

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that I made Sansa's night out turn out like HELL D: But with Cersei there it was difficult not to. The next chapter will be happier, promise. Btw, the title of this chapter is the same as a song from Marina and the Diamonds, which is great, btw, and it's just SO Cersei that I just had to use it.


	5. How about a date?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cersei wants a date and Margaery wants a party. Sansa will have both.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a bitch for updating like half a year after the last chapter, but I started university this year and I'm dying from all the fucking sociological texts that I have to read to pass. I hope you forgive me and understand my pain. Or not, I hope you don't understand it because it will mean that you don't have to go through this shit. Anyway, this new chapter was lots of fun to write. It's lighter than the others in angst material: basically a party, an invitation to a date and Sansaery with a blatant parody of subtext towards the end. I wanted this chapter to be super-serious, really, but my hand slipped and well... I just need to have a little of fun and forget about uni while I can. Besides, in the next chapter Cersei will bring the angst, so we may laugh while we still can.

She was about to text Margaery back when someone called her. A new number, one she didn't know who could it possibly belong to. She looked at it perplexed, trying to decipher who could be, when she remembered that she gave her number to Cersei the night before.

"Hello?" She greeted upon answering the call.

"Sansa." Said a feminine voice. Sansa smiled: it was Cersei's, no doubt. "Do you remember me? I'm Cersei."

"Yes! I remember you." She couldn't suppress her excitement. After all, she had felt so well with Cersei the night before... They really connected, and maybe they could... Who knew? The woman was so charming, it was ridiculous how much Sansa liked her already.

"I was wondering If you would like to meet up some day? I really liked you." Woah, woah, was that actually happening? Sansa's cheeks went as red as her hair, and she bit one of her fingernails in an attempt to master her nerves.

"Of course!" She answered, eager. "Which day you want us to meet?"

"Hm... In Wednesday."

"Okay, when do you want us...?"

"6: 30 would be perfect. We'll meet at Goldenrose's, okay?"

"Okay, I'll be there." after she hanged, Sansa couldn't suppress a chuckle. She rolled on her bed and started daydreaming before Arya went to fetch her for supper. The text Margaery had sent her remained forgotten.

***

_Two days_ , she thought when she woke up, _I have a date in two days_. She dressed up, smiling, and went to have breakfast with the rest of the family.

Her cheerfulness didn't go unnoticed by her mother Catelyn, though. Which was quite a feat, as Rickon and Shaggydog seemed set on making a fine mess of their breakfasts.

"You look very happy this morning." She said to her daughter, while she glared at Rickon in a way that said 'get your dog to behave', "Something happened last night?" Sansa blushed, remembering Cersei's call.

"Well... A friend of mine called me." she answered, giggling. Her mother's eyes shined with hope.

"Oh, was it Margaery? Have you two made up at last?" Sansa stopped drinking her cup of coffee the instant she heard that. _Margaery, right_ , she thought, _I haven't answered to her message..._

"I... Well, it wasn't her. It was someone I met at the bar." Her mother raised her eyebrows.

"So you have a date?" Asked Bran, curious as ever, while he ate his cereals.

"Yes!" Answered Sansa, beaming. "... Or at least, that's what I think. Maybe she just wants to be friends?" She had assumed right away that it was a date, but maybe Cersei meant that she liked her in a friendly way or something. It was easy to know when a boy wanted a date, but with a girl...

"For fuck's sake, Sansa. You met her at a gay bar." Pointed Arya between gulps of orange juice. "I think that it's crystal clear that she wants a date. Heck, you should have seen the way she looked at you while she took you out of her car. For a moment I thought that you two had already fucked in there."

"Arya," Muttered Sansa between gritted teeth, "T-that means nothing. And," she added, looking to their mother and brothers with an alarmed look, "we haven't done anything like that!" Although would have she minded If something more had happened? Cersei was gorgeous after all, with her glossy blonde hair and red lips...

Arya just shrugged.

"I saw what I saw. Trust me, Sansa, it's a date."

"And how is that girl?" Asked Robb, curious and worried like a good big brother. Sansa sighed, smiling again.

"She's really clever and confident, not to mention beautiful. I really would like to have a date with her." Sansa answered, looking down at her plate. It was a little embarrassing to talk about that with her family, but she couldn't blame them for being worried.

"Oh, someone's in love." Purred Arya, mockingly.

***

"Hello Margs :) how are you doing?" She typed, anxious. Maybe Margaery was ready to talk about everything at last.

The response was immediate. "Sansaaaa <3 We have to meet someday!! I miss you!"

"Yesss! Could we meet at your house this Tuesday?"

"Tuesday I'm throwing a party, If you want to come you're welcome! Did you know my brother won another match?"

"Wow, congrats! And I'll be happy to come, your parties are always awesome."

"Then be at my house at 20: 30 ;) Btw, I have to introduce someone to you <3" _Her boyfriend_ , thought Sansa bitterly. _It isn't that I'm angry at her for having a boyfriend, but does she have to say 'someone' when we both know who it is?_ She decided she would not let this affect her, after all, she didn't know anything about him.

"What's his name?" She asked.

"Renly. You'll love him, he's so charming <3 He and Loras are friends already!"

"I look forward to meet him, he sounds like a nice guy." and with that, their conversation ended.

***

"You're sure you're not going to drink?" Asked Catelyn again, looking at her with her hands on her hips.

"I promise, mom." Assured Sansa, "I won't drink and won't puke." Her mother's expression softened.

"Maybe it would be better If you talked with Margaery before the party about your discussion."

"Don't worry about that, mom. I'm sure we'll be fine." Said Sansa, looking at her reflection. Her hair was combed into a ponytail and she wore a black A-line dress, a tiny red belt adjusted to her waist, two elegant chain bracelets and a cameo pendant made of silver hanging from her neck. The simple pearl earrings in her ears gave her an air of maturity that she normally couldn't pull off.

_I'll have to put on something of this style when I hang out with Cersei_ , she noted mentally while she revised the makeup of her smokey eyes, _so she'll like me more_.

"You're beautiful, Sansa." Her mother said, caressing her hair.

"Don't I look... I don't know, old?"

"You're too young to worry about that, dear." Said her mother, and squeezed her shoulder. "Let's go, or you'll be running late."

***

The main hall of the Tyrell's mansion looked like a dream when she arrived. Dimly lit, but with flowers and ribbons here and there and a table full of delicious food and sweets. There were also a couple of tequila bottles around, and Sansa hoped she could keep up her promise of no drinking.

Specially being alone in that room with Margaery, as she was right now.

"Welcome, Sansa." Greeted the girl, not really looking at her. She was up in a metal ladder, hanging one of the ends of a "Knights of the Reach" banner from one of the hall's pillars. She looked like she was having fun, a smile lingering on her lips as she tied the colorful strips of the banner with fast fingers. Her dress was light golden, a color that seemed too flashy on some people, but somehow Margaery pulled it off with style. The asymmetric skirt started mid-thigh and ended on her knees, and she was barefoot, with only an ankle bracelet to dress her feet. She tiptoed to finish her job, and for a moment the ladder trembled and Sansa thought that she was going to fall, but she just giggled before getting off of it goofily.

She got to put on her shoes while looking at Sansa sideways, and the Stark girl could see her lips trembling as she did so. It was weird how she seemed more off balance now that she was on the ground.

"So... How have you been, Sans?" She said, smiling that mischievous smile of hers. She sat on the ground while she put on her shoes, and her skirt went up her thigh a little more than it should have.

"I've been fine." _I have so much I would like to tell you._ "How about you, Margs?"

"Oh, you know, the usual. Hanging around with Megga, and... Well, Renly. By the way, I saw Elinor recently. She sent you love."

"I'm glad to hear that you're doing fine." Answered Sansa, giving Margaery her hand so she could get up. After she got to her feet, Margaery looked a second to their intertwined fingers before averting her gaze. _Before I came out of the closet we were like this all the time_ , thought Sansa, _how will it be now?_

Margaery just led her towards the table, apparently natural.

"I don't know why I bother making some of the preparations myself  when I know that it will end up all being a mess." She whispered.

"At least you don't have to clean up." Sansa answered. Margaery smiled at her and grabbed a cream tart from one of the plates.

"Try it. We have to take advantage now that we're alone, before all my brother's friends come and get all the food for themselves. Twelve hungry teenagers can be any cook's nightmare."

"So we're going to be fourteen people?" Asked Sansa, puzzled. The Tyrells were known for celebrating everything with a capital C.

"Oh, no, some of my friends are also invited. Like you!" She said, hugging Sansa tightly. "And Renly is coming too."

"... Peachy." Sansa smiled, even If the thought of being in the same room as Renly left her indifferent at best.

"Anyway, eat it." Urged Margaery, giving her the tart.

"Okay, okay!" Sansa bit the snack, and after a moment of chewing she ate the rest of it. It tasted sweet, but not too much, and the cream had a lemony aftertaste."Oh my god, I love this. You have to give me the recipe someday." Margaery seemed happy to hear that.

"I knew you would like it. You'll have to ask Gretta for the recipe, though, she made all of those, not me." Margaery seemed to look at her thoroughly, then.

"Do I have something in my face...?" Asked Sansa, before Margaery wiped her lower lip with her fingers.

"Not anymore." She said, smiling. Sansa didn't know why, but that made her blush. _Why I'm blushing like this? She's a friend_.

Then the bell rang, and as Margaery went to open the door for Loras and company, she had time to rearrange her thoughts again.

***

The hall was livelier than she had ever seen. When they were little, the Tyrells hosted parties at their house often enough, but Sansa and Margaery had just been there playing and eating. Sometimes one of Margaery's older brothers threw a party during high school, but in those nights Alerie always sent Margs to have a sleepover at the Stark's house, and they could just imagine how were the parties of her grown-ups brothers as they cuddled beneath the sheets.

But this was way more chaotic than the other parties she had seen. More wild, but more fun, also. The Knights of the Reach were rowdy teenage boys in all their glory, and they were all eating, chattering, pushing each other while shouting and laughing loudly at all the jokes they heard, and when someone opened one of the bottles of tequila to start a drinking contest Sansa couldn't help but take a shot. Well, some shots, really. In fact, she won the drinking contest. She felt dizzy, but at least the booze helped her face the awful introduction of Mr. Boyfriend. By the time Renly was in sight, she was feeling numb enough to think without remorse that he looked like a twat.

"Sansa, this is Renly. Renly, Sansa." Introduced Margaery, polite as ever, and Sansa understood that she had nothing to do against a boy like him. She was just Marg's best friend, a gangly ginger thing against Margaery's boyfriend, the Prince Charming, smiling and making clever statements as If he had been born for it. It wasn't like they had a competition, at least not romantically, but... She supposed that in some way, they did have it. Maybe it was always like this with best friends.

Margaery just drank champagne, bubbly and golden as her dress. Loras had opened the bottle minutes ago, spaying the drink everywhere and making mess of his shirt and hair while his friends howled and laughed, and Renly had accompanied him to his room to help him change. Something about the two of them seemed weird to Sansa. They seemed to be bound by other things besides Margaery, and whenever they talked, a strange air of intimacy surrounded them, one that Sansa felt uncomfortable interrupting. Margaery didn't seem bothered by that, though, and she just laughed along and talked with her girl friends without giving the incident a second thought.

For a moment, Sansa thought about asking Margaery about Renly and Loras, but when Margs looked at her smiling, one of her hands running down her shoulder and said "Hey, Sansa, did you hear about what Janna did yesterday...?" she couldn't do anything but follow Margaery's conversation. After all, what she wanted to suggest was just a supposition. A ridiculous supposition, taking into account that hell, who wouldn't be attracted to Margaery? Sansa could find her attractive (even If she had needed some shots of tequila to admit that to herself), and she was sure that, If she were straight, she would have found her sexy anyway. Margaery was one of those universally hot persons, one Renly had to find alluring for sure too, what with him being her boyfriend.

Specially tonight, with Margaery dressed in that golden dress that had such a low V-neckline, her hair cascading in curls over her shoulders and her eyes smiling like she knew everything. Maybe she had done something to her hair, as it looked a darker shade of brown than usual, and she had painted her lips with red gloss, exalting them. As they talked about Janna, Sansa couldn't help but smile stupidly, even If Janna was the last person that she cared about in that moment.

 Then Loras and Renly showed up again and Margaery went to kiss him, the tail of her dress flying behind her like a banner, and Renly took her into his arms and made her swirl until they both busted out laughing.

They seemed like a couple out of a Hollywood movie. Even with the booze, Sansa couldn't tell If the envy she felt was because they were _normal_ or because it was _Margaery_. Her childhood best friend, having a boyfriend now that she came back.

Just then, something landed near her feet. A small pebble.

"What the..." She muttered, as she kneeled to grab it. But then another one hit her back. "Ouch!" She protested, going to look outside the open window. If this was some joke...

But she just saw someone, a girl, with frizzy long hair and a short green dress, the corset enhancing her breasts and waist. She was sitting against her car, doing hand gestures to Sansa, basically telling her to don't say a thing and come down to see her. Sansa, upon recognizing her, decided to go.

_I hadn't imagined that Elinor would have changed this much_ , she thought as she went to find her. Being out in the street was lonely compared with the party inside, and the night air was chilling. Sansa trembled a little as she crossed her arms over her chest in an attempt to keep warm while she went towards the car.

"Oh, Sansa, aren't you a drunken little thing?" Elinor teased, mussing her hair as If they were still little kids.

"I'm not drunk."

"And I'm not in a corset." Retorted the older girl. "Looks like Margaery didn't think about me tonight. D'awww, and I thought that all that partying would bring in some nice memories. Well, at least _you_ do remember me."

"What do you want, Elinor?" She muttered.

"I want you to go upstairs and fetch Margaery. I need to talk to her on dear grandma's behalf AND mine."

"About what...?"

"Family business." Cut Elinor, in a tone that left clear that she wasn't going to be more specific. So without a word, she returned inside and searched for Margaery through the crowd.

"Sansa!" She heard after a while. There she was, Margaery came to her side rushing, her hairstyle undone after dancing. "Where were you? I couldn't find you anywhere. Oh, are you cold?" She asked upon seeing Sansa tremble, "gone for a walk, have you?"

"Not exactly" Said Sansa, tense. The mystery of what Elinor wants still intrigued her. "Come with me... It's important" She added while Margaery looked at her, confused. Even though she didn't get what was going on, she followed the redhead.

Once they went outside and she saw Elinor, though, she frowned.

"What are you doing here?" She sai to her cousin, surprised to see her there.

"Hello to you too, Margs." Elinor greeted, "I was just angsting over the fact that you forgot to invite me to Loras's little party."

"Well, I didn't think that you would be interested." Margaery replied, startled, before smiling calmly again. "But If you want to come in please be my guest."

"I was just joking, Margs, so don't bother. Get real, I'm not here to party with the apes that Loras likes to call friends. I bet I would get bored anyways, so. I just want to have a little chat." She said, looking at her car. "Grandma has seen something interesting this morning and I want to discuss that." Elinor added rather bitterly, as If to make Margaery realize that she meant business.

Margaery looked at Sansa over her shoulder, her look questioning.

"Can she...?"

"... Leave us alone? Yes." Interrupted Elinor. Margaery sighed while Sansa went to wait at the house's porch. She was sure she wouldn't be able to hear them from there. Of course she could get back to the party inside, but then she would have to make an excuse for where was Margaery, and she did not feel like lying. Besides, all that mystery had picked her curiosity.

As soon as Margaery got in the car with Elinor, shouting ensued. Sansa couldn't hear a coherent thing, so while she waited for all the show to finish she made herself a ball in the steps of the porch and tried to keep warm. She noted, though, that they had repainted the pillars again, this time white, and that more pots full of roses had been added to the stairs. Even If the additions were little, the place seemed to have changed a lot since they were children.

Finally, Margaery went out of the car, closing the door with a decisive thud, and went towards Sansa with an angry expression. Behind her, one of the car's windows opened.

"Have fun banging a homosexual!" Shouted Elinor at the top of her lungs, before turning on the car and getting away from there at such a speed that Sansa feared for the girl's life.

"Fuck, It's just so like her to want to have the last word! I can't stand her when she gets so high in her fucking judgmental horse!" Muttered Margaery under her breath, looking like she wanted to kick something. Seconds after her outburst, she regained her composure and looked at Sansa, apologetic.

"I'm sorry you had to hear us. But really, Renly is none of her business. It's mine." She protested, arms crossed over her chest.

"What has she said about you two?" Sansa asked, eager. She knew that she was being nosy, but that was getting more interesting by the second.

"I'll tell you later, If you don't have any other plans you can spend the night here. But now let's get inside, I'm sure that Renly will have noticed that we're missing." She said, although she sounded unconvinced.

They went inside, where Renly effusively met Margaery with another passionate kiss, to which some boys whistled and cheered, the classic "Get a room!" ever present. Loras just smiled, trying to emulate his friend's enthusiasm, before going to fetch more tequila. Sansa just had the same idea, and Loras raised an eyebrow when he saw her fill her glass again.

"Are you sure that you'll be fine?" He said. "You already drank a lot."

"There's always room for more as the party goes on." She answered.

"... Yeah, I suppose." Agreed Loras.

"Sansa!" Interrupted Margaery, followed by Renly. "You're not having alcohol poisoning at my house." She said as she took the glass from Sansa and drank it herself.

"I thought you were my friend, not my mother." Sansa slurred.

"Yeah, and friends protect each other from false gossip, predatory men and the evils of tequila."

' _And possible confusions about your sexual orientation, If I recall correctly_.' was about to spit Sansa. But she shut up, not wanting to make a fuss nor to come out to half of Lora's and Margaery's friends.

***

After the rest of their friends had left, at 4 AM or so, Margaery decided to spill the beans.

"It's about Renly and I." She said as she brushed her hair, already in her nightie. Sansa just listened to her, already covered in the sheets of the spare bed. "You see, we've been having some dates lately and the gossip columnists noticed."

"What?" Exclaimed Sansa. "You mean that they took photos of you together or something like that?"

"... Yeah. And it looks like they published news about us. 'Promising future politician Renly Baratheon seen on a date with Mace Tyrell's beautiful daughter!' or something like that." Sansa was so surprised that she didn't say a word. Her family, although well-known, didn't have those kind of problems, at least not since her father had died. She remembers a time when sometimes people with cameras and recorders came home to talk with dad about his future plans in politics, and she remembered feeling kind of excited about that. When she was a kid, she wanted to be interviewed too, to be on magazines wearing her best dresses, being nice and charming and gorgeous and so perfect that everyone would love her, but she had learned a lot of time ago that those things were just dreams, and that it was better like that, really. It seemed like an eternity since she wished something like that, as If the girl that wanted that kind of things and the girl that she was now weren't the same person.

"And... Well... That's where it gets nasty." Margaery took a deep breath before going on. "Grandma said that I need to have more control on my public image and how it is used before I end up compromising myself like Elinor. And Elinor herself says that... Gods, I can't believe she's being such a jerk to me, but she said, off the blue, that there's certain rumors about Renly, that he's gay and that he's using me as his beard!" She said, getting angry again. "Can you believe it?"

"... Well, I don't know Renly that much, but he seemed to like you enough to french you."

"I know! I mean, he's not gay and I'm sure that Elinor is just making shit up! Damn, everything was going so well! Why do people have to keep getting between us, as If what we have is less real because the two of us want to be politicians? We're not doing it for attention, goddamit! And neither of us did want the press to feel invited to join our date and be all invasive about it!"

Sansa definitely could relate to that. She was about to offer her condolences when she remembered that her being gay was still kind of a stormy subject between them.

"I'm happy that my family's not on the spotlight anymore to be honest." Said Sansa, still mortified.

"You could adopt me," Margaery replied, still frustrated. "I'm sure I would be less stressed this way."

"I would definitely adopt you." Answered Sansa playfully, laughing.

"It would be great If you did. I would like to live with you... And your family, of course." Margaery said, looking fondly at Sansa. She went to sit to the girl's side and took her hand, the warmth of her fingers and their gentle grip making Sansa smile. She could feel Margaery's forehead almost touching hers, and the girl's eyes were set on Sansa's when she said, "We'll be like sisters."

"Yeah... Like sisters." Upon saying that, Sansa found herself feeling strange for some reason. She knew that she could never see Margaery as a sister, as she would always fill a special place in her life, one that not friends nor family could possibly replace. In a way she always had known she felt like this, always knew that some relationships were more special than others, that Margaery was different than Jeyne or Beth for her.

Margaery was a true friend, that was it.

They spent some seconds looking at each other before Margaery lowered her gaze awkwardly.

"Looks like you're not the only one that drank too much." Margaery noted. "I think I'm a little tipsy myself, judging from all the things I'm saying."

"Yeah... Tequila is terrible." Agreed Sansa. Margaery just hopped to her bed and turned her back to Sansa.

"Goodnight, Sans."

"Goodnight, Margs."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S NOT GAY IF WE CALL OURSELVES SISTERS RIGHT ONEE-SAMA? Okay, I'll go to sleep too before my sleep deprivation keeps making me embarrassing myself.


End file.
